V / II

Gurumukh and Manmukh

The God in man is competent to give this experience at the time of initiation. It is a practical process of inversion by gradual self-analysis. This He does by transferring His own Life-Impulse into the initiates. His greatness lies in giving a practical demonstration of what He teaches on the physical plane. His Light-form then guides the soul from plane to plane where there are worlds greater than the universe in which we live.

Even of this universe, we know nothing. There are numberless stars and spheres, whirling around and around, of which human imagination cannot have any conception. Now you can well understand what would be the expanse and magnitude of the astral and the mental worlds. The more one rises above body consciousness, the more one knows of the secrets of the higher worlds within him. But how many of us are prepared to die while living? We want to live on and on, even if it be a few hours beyond the allotted time. Why? Firstly, we are afraid to leave the body. Secondly, we do not know what is beyond this body. But if we once know the grandeur that lies ahead of us, we would not like even to come back in the physical world: 

He who can, by the Grace of the Master, learn to die while living can know the Divine Will, oh Nanak, one who begins to understand the Divine Will loses all thought of himself.

A Conscious Co-Worker of the Divine Plan always visibly sees the invisible hand of God working in and around him, and he becomes eternally free.

It is, therefore, said: 

Oh Nanak! a death like this is a gateway to Life-Eternal.

This is called re-birth or resurrection of the soul, Dwijanma, of which all the Great Souls have spoken in glorious terms. 

Blessed is the Person Who is in constant touch with the Word made manifest in Him.

God is Nameless. But God in action Power is called the Word or Naam. Most of us are always in communion with our mind and, as such, have become the mouthpiece of mind – manmukh. In contrast to this, there is Gurumukh-Naam to which one gets an access through the Grace of the Guru.

While the mind works in numberless diverse ways, the Holy Word or the Gurumukh-Naam is of one pattern: 

Oh mind be thou in communion with the Holy Naam. A treasure of Naam comes only through a Perfect Master.

There is no greater name than the Holy Word – It is the Power that is sustaining the whole creation. This Sound Principle is reverberating in the entire universe. It has to be explained in so many words. We have to understand the theory on the level of the intellect. Having once understood the basic Truth, we have to go ahead to get to the Truth and hold on to it. As this Sound Principle is very rhythmic in itself, It makes those who come in touch with It rhythmic; It gives them equipoise and frees them from all ailments and lusts of the flesh. 

He Himself resides in the human body, but it is so subtle that one get to it.

In this temple of God, human body, God verily dwells. One cannot comprehend Him with the aid of the senses and sense-organs, although it is the very life of them. Unless one rises to the level of God-Power, one cannot apprehend the said Power. The finite cannot get to the infinite. What then is the remedy?

The scriptures tell us: A Saint Who lives in the Kingdom of God may, in His Grace, put us on the Path Godwards.

The unwise do not understand the secrets and go in search of Him without.

Guru Amar Das has defined Gurumukh as: 

Gurumukh is One Who has been duly initiated by the Guru and practices the Spiritual Sadhana as is enjoined by the Guru.

Again it is further explained: 

When one meets the Perfect Master and gets a practical demonstration of the Inner Science, he comes to know the secret of the Divine Science and begins to explore within. 

Now about manmukh: 

All those who are ignorant of the Sound Principle fall into this category and those who have no idea of the Love and fear of the Master.

The Inner Sound Principle is working in its fullness. We cannot apprehend It on an intellectual level. Even after meeting a Perfect Master, we still remain, for the most part, a manmukh since we do not develop Love and fear of the Master. As such, we still wander in the wilderness. 

When the Reality lies elsewhere and we search in the wrong place, how can one get to it? Kabir saith, we can get to it only when One Who knows the secret of it assists us.

We usually search for the Truth in the Holy Scriptures. The study of the scriptures has its own value, but the scriptures cannot by themselves deliver the goods. The books, at the most, can give us an idea of the subject. But for practical demonstration, we will have to go to One Who can demonstrate the Truth to us. He, too, helps us to understand the theory with the help of scriptures: 

The scriptures are handy aids with the Master; and with their help, He enables us to ferry across the sea of life, Samsar. Without the Perfect Master, we cannot possibly understand their true import, for He is the veritable Human Pole from where God-Power works.

Spirituality is both a science and an art of life. Like the medical science, there is the need in Spirituality to demonstrate what is given in the books. The manifested God in man Who has unravelled this mystery can help us to unravel it for ourselves. It is He Who can give us a practical experience: 

Oh Bhika, it is something mysterious and cannot be explained in so many words. He who knows cannot speak, and he who speaks does not know.

Similarly a Chinese Saint has also said: He who speaks sees not, and he who sees speaks not.

He who follows the commandments of the Perfect Master basks in His sunshine; to him the Perfect Master manifests the unmanifest in him.

Christ also laid emphasis on strict obedience by His followers. 

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Again it is said: 

Blessed are they who have implicit faith in the Perfect Master, for they become hearers of the Word made manifest in them.

Here the question arises how to judge a Perfect Master? 

Kabir tells us: 

He Who can bring down the celestial harmony from above is the Real Master.

All the Great Souls, more or less, speak in much the same strain. The term Guru stands for One Who brings Light in darkness or, in other words, makes Light visible in the enshrouding darkness within.

Light shineth in darkness, and darkness comprehendth it not.

What does the Guru do? He, by making the Holy Light visible within, makes one apprehend the same. He makes one the seer of the invisible Light which is the mother of all lights in the world without. This is the touchstone of a Sadhu, Saint, or Mahatma. Search for such a One. You would undoubtedly come across many who would talk to you of Jnana and Vijanana and give you lectures on the performance of rites and rituals, formulas and formularies, and enjoin reading of scriptures and epics. This anybody and everybody can do with a little training. They cannot unravel the mysteries of the beyond and give a demonstration of the Truth in you. 

Who on earth has the power to pull up sensory currents to the seat of the soul? Who can open the all-seeing Inner Eye? It can be done only by a Perfect Master.

It is, therefore, said: 

By meeting the Perfect Master, one is rid of the darkness within. By meeting the Perfect Master, one sees the Holy Light with his own eyes.

Again, it is said, 

It is only a Sant Satguru Who can make the invisible visible.

The scriptures are so very clear on this subject. If, in spite of this, we go astray and search for God outside, it is our ill-luck. 

If the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into the ditch,

is a common saying. 

Those whose Master see things darkly cannot but do deeds of darkness.

Again, it is said: 

A blind man cannot put you on the Path when he himself does not know it. One Who has His eyes would not lead people astray.

Further, in this context we have: 

One who has not enough for himself, what can he spare for those who depend on him?

This is the experience of Guru Amar Das Who came by the Spiritual Riches after a long quest of no less than 70 years. But when He came to realise the Truth through the Grace of His Master, Guru Angad, He then tried to expound and elucidate things in a proper perspective. 

In the human body there are countless riches of inestimable value; it is by devotion alone that one gets to these riches.

Spirituality is the path of devotion – devotion to One Who has solved the mystery of life for Himself and can help us to solve it for ourselves. He gives us some Inner Experience to start with and guides us inwardly until the end. He does not rest until He leads the disciple soul into the Kingdom of God. All the scriptures are full of praise for the Guru. It is a pity that Gurus nowadays are looked down upon with disfavour. The reason for this is very clear. A Real Teacher is difficult to find these days. But, at the same time, the world is not without Enlightened Souls. God, Godway, and Godman are interlinked with one another. Without a Godman to put us on the Godpath, we cannot move Godwards. There is not much in the repetition of the formula unless the formula is delivered to the initiate with the charged impulse from the Master.

It is this Life-Impulse that opens the Inner Eye of the initiate: 

The human body is on the pattern of the universe and abounds in Spiritual Riches, in the human body is the Power of God and untold treasures which one can get by communion with the Word.

We are all fortunate enough as we have the means wherewith we can get into contact with the God-Power in us. But alas! we have not known the value of the human body and are wasting our life in vain. It is long since that we are in the world as a human being. We, no doubt, have for quite a long time been in one or other social order. But we have never for a moment tried to understand as to where we are and what we are. All social orders have, undoubtedly, God as the highest common factor. The basic teachings are the same in all religions, irrespective of the different modes of expression: 

Within man there is Light and therefrom is coming the Eternal Sound Principle; by attuning to this Sound Principle one gets a contact with Truth.

The scriptures tell us of this Sound Principle. They constitute the record of the valuable experience of the Enlightened Souls and, as such, are very precious for us. But, we have to experience the Inner Light and Sound of which the scriptures speak. The Upanishads tell us that Sage Ingris unfolded this secret doctrine to Lord Krishna. Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle taught the same thing each in his own time. The Hindu scriptures also lay emphasis on Sruti, that which is heard. The Muslim divines call It Noor and Kalam-i-Kadeem. 

In the human body sits the Balance-holder, balancing everyone aright; the mind within is a mine of diamonds, rubies, and jaspers of inestimable value.

The God-Power within sees to the needs of all of us and knows them before we do. Accordingly, He looks to them, gives whatever is just and necessary. The said Power has also provided us with a valuable instrument called Mana or the mind. As at present it is working into the world without. All that one has to do is to change its direction. It is a connecting link between the material body and the immaterial soul which are two disparate things: 

Thou art consciousness and thy body is a lump of clay – how are two linked together?

Mind is a great force that stands between the two and takes on the colour of both. When connected with the sense-organs it works through the senses. But if it could be introverted, it follows the spirit. Like fire, it is a good servant but a bad master. When under control it moves inwards. It has, of course, to be put on the Path Godwards. The Master-Soul helps in linking it with the God-Power within. When it gets a taste of the Light and Life of God, it loses all charms for the world. Such a Master-Soul with a competency to manifest the saving life-line within is a great gift of God. 

It is said: 

Mind follows the world while a disciplined soul follows the teacher.

We are slaves of the mind. We follow the mind, wherever it drags us into the fields of senses. We follow the Master only to the extent that is acceptable to the mind. An Enlightened Soul has an all-seeing eye. He sees where we are and how we are helplessly drifting along the current of time. He knows that human spirit is of the essence of God, and that the Power of God also works in us. He pities us in our sad predicament. It is out of pure compassion that He tries to take us out of the wilderness of the world. He tells us to make friends with the mind. When the mind is yoked from day to day, it becomes a matter of habit to do a thing. We have simply, like a good pointsman, to turn the point inwards, and give it a new direction. Who would give this direction? It is we who have to do it. When can we give this direction? Only when we become conscious of the Reality within us. The Enlightened Soul gives us a living touch with the consciousness already in us. Besides this He imparts Inner Direction and help.

We must, therefore, take the words of the Master as Gospel truth and follow them to the very letter: 

Let my words abide in you and you abide in me,

is the exhortation of Christ.

Take a firm hold of the words of the Guru and keep them firmly tied in the closet of your heart. 

Gurbani

There is just one way to live in the heart of another person: 

Love begets Love.

When you love a person, it is but natural that he will respond to your Love. If the disciple remembers the Master, the latter, in turn, attends to him: 

Master takes care of the disciple with every breath of His life.

It is nothing but the law of action and reaction. The Great Master very lovingly tells us of the Balance-holder within. Now, all our weight is in the pan that is on this side of the world. We have gradually to shift the weight to the other pan. But how? Under the guidance of Somebody Who can assist us in shifting the balance. Mind, no doubt, is like a wild elephant; but it can be controlled with the help of a piked iron rod with the Master: 

Mind runs after the pleasure of the world, but the Word of the Master attracts him the other way.

The Holy Word has a great attraction in It. It works like a magnet and pulls the mind around: 

The field of sense-pleasures lose all their charm when one once tastes the Elixir Divine.

Engrossed in the world, the mind is now not aware of the happiness that lies in the (Inner) World. It is just a matter of contrast. We have to weigh the one against the other. The music of the world works this miracle: 

So long as one does not taste the Elixir of Life, one does not get any peace.

How can we have this taste for the Divine?

The Gurbani tells us: 

The power, pelf, and intellect are of no avail. A Sadhu alone may help you to it.

The term Sadhu is difficult to define.

The scriptures tell us: Sadhu is just a Human Pole on which God-Power works.

How can we evaluate Naam or the Holy Word when we cannot get to It without the help of the Guru?

Naam is something inestimable and has a vast potency in It. 

Those who commune with the Word, all their labours end.

The societies and scriptures cannot help us to Naam. If the Guru wills, then alone we can get to It. Guru gives us correct understanding and actual experience of It.

Guru demonstrates the Truth to us.

It is a direct experience that counts. It is Aham Brahm, or here is Brahm, so to say. Generally, we are told to tread the Path step by step and then we get to it. But what path do we really tread? Sitting at the plane of the senses, our path lies through the senses. The Truth lies far above the senses and mind. We may all our life be engaged in virtuous deeds, and we will reap the fruits thereof. Good deeds, too, are enough to bind the jivas as the bad deeds are. We have, therefore, to rise above the field of karmas. This ascension becomes a possibility in the company of a Saint, for He gives an experience of it. It is through the instructions of the Guru that we begin to commune with the Word. This experience forms the basis or stock-in-trade with which we have to proceed further. It is, so to say, our subscribed capital to carry on the business in the practice of the world. Without such initial capital, no business can be started. It is not enough to know merely the formula without actually making a preliminary attempt to work it out. The words given for repetition are but words to help in the withdrawal of the sensory currents; but beyond that, they cannot help in opening the Inner Eye. This is done by the transmission of the Life-Impulse from the Living Master. 

This is why it is said: 

Do not attempt to commune with the Word without the help of the Guru.

Similarly, we have in the Gospels: 

Take not God’s Name in vain.

It is the Son of God Who can reveal God and His Power in man. 

[…] No one knows the Father but the Son and they to whom the Son may reveal.

So, it is a question of revelation and not mere instruction.

Nanak in Jap Ji tells us: 

You have no power to speak or to be silent, no power to ask or to give. You have no power over life or death, no power over wealth or state for which you are ever restless. You have no power over Spiritual Awakening, no power to know the Truth, or to achieve own salvation. Let he who thinks he has the power try.

Jap Ji, Stanza 33

Thus, we see that salvation depends on His will alone. One has to surrender himself to His will and then wait and watch. 

Only those who are ordained, they alone can take to communion with the Word.

Similarly, in the Revelation it is said: 

Those see the Power of God Who have the Father’s Name written in Their foreheads.

It is the Inner Light that makes one Khalsa, or the Pure One. When does a man become pure?

The scriptures tell us in this context: 

When one gets into contact with the Inner Light in its fullness, then alone one becomes pure; otherwise, not.

Guru Gobind Singh speaking of Himself says: 

Khalsa is my own form, and I reside in the Khalsa; and my Satguru, too, is Khalsa.

True devotion consists of the manifestation of the Light within and of the Inner Music. And whosoever succeeds in this process is true to himself, no matter if he is a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian, or a Sikh, or anything else. The secret lies in becoming a Gurumukh or a chosen vessel of the Guru in which His Grace may descend.

The right to approach the Father is the birthright of each one of us. It is not reserved for any particular community or sect, as most of us think and believe. In preparing the Sikh scriptures, Guru Arjan tried to collect the Spiritual Experiences of all the past sages and seers that He could lay His hands upon. In them we have the sayings of Ravi Das, the cobbler Saint; Kabir, the weaver Saint; Dhanna Jat and even Sadhana, the butcher by profession at one time. We have, therefore, to search for a Person Who has manifested in Himself the Power of God. Such an Enlightened Soul would naturally give both oral instructions and Inner Experience. 

He tells us: 

Man is man first and man last – recognise this as a fact.

This is the fundamental principle. The religious labels come afterwards. The main purpose of these labels is to keep societies free from corruption. And next, He makes us Gurumukh. Now, Who is a Gurumukh? Gurumukh is One Who penetrates in Himself – for the Light of God. This then is the mission of a Perfect Master – to demonstrate Truth in us and to make us consciously aware of Truth. 

In the human body one must cultivate fear and Love, and then one sees the Reality through the Grace of the Guru.

We can certainly know, understand, and contact the God. Power with the help and guidance of a Godman. Where there is Love, there is fear also. With faith in the Perfect Master – One Who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent – who would dare do anything wrong? And then the Love for Him would give an added strength to one’s faith. 

Listen ye to the instructions of a Perfect Master. And you will see Par Brahm within your reach.

This Love and faith also come with the Grace of a Perfect Master. It is He Who can help us to get both Love and faith. 

It is in the human body that all the gods and goddesses abide, and all the creation is being sustained by them.

The whole world worships the three Powers of God – the Creative-Principle, Brahma, the Sustaining-Principle, Vishnu, and the Destroying-Principle, Mahesh. All these three principles are working in the body. Brahma, sitting in the regenerative organ, is carrying on the work of procreation. Vishnu, at the navel – ganglion –, keeps the body in well trim by digesting food and converting it into life-giving energy to the body. Mahesh or Shiva at the heart centre winds up the life-processes by etherealising the lower elements into a vaporous form. When the sensory currents get to the eye focus at the seat of the soul, the three powers have already taken leave by winding their respective affairs. You will thus realise that the seat of the soul at the eye focus is much higher than the elemental centres below. Why is it so? Because soul is of the essence of God.

Nanak, in this context, says:

The Great Mother, conceiving, brought forth three regents: the first creating, the second sustaining, and the last destroying. What He desires, they perform. They work under His will. But great the wonder, though He watches over them, they behold Him not.

Jap Ji, Stanza 30

It, therefore, behoves us to worship the Supreme Being. We should have respect and regard for the various God-Powers, but God Himself is alone worthy of our adoration and worship. These God-Powers can take Their devotees after death to Their own respective regions or spheres, but They cannot free us from bondage.

The True One has set up the stage of the world on which the actors come and go.

It is with the help of these three powers born of the Great Mother that God is carrying on His plan and purpose of creation, and we are playing the fact that we occupy a much higher position in the scale of creation than these Powers Themselves.

The Perfect Master Himself manifests the Word; and this Word becomes the means of liberation.

It is the Perfect Master Who shows us, while living, the planes and sub-planes in the Brahmand – universe. A Real Teacher does not ask us to accept things on faith or credit. He wants us to see with our own eyes and to hear with our own ears – of course, Inner Eyes and Ears – while we are yet living in the world. How can one trust the uncertain future that may or may not give anything at all? Seeing is believing. A direct perception is greater than all theories or dogmas. Now we have to work out the initial experience as far as we can by following the instructions of the teacher.

He gives us the Inner Eye, without which we are all blind. Defining blindness it is said:

They are not blind who have no eyes on their faces. A blind is one, oh Nanak, who does not see the Lord.

When the Inner Eye is developed one begins to see the Light of God in him and understand the working of the Divine Will. The audible Life-Stream is the stream of life and an experience of It gives us All-Wisdom.

That human body is really human that worships the Satguru; such a human body is verily the handiwork of God Himself.

We build temples, mosques, churches, and Gurdawaras with our human hand. But this temple of the human body is raised by God Himself, and His Power works in fullness in it. When in this bodily temple we are able to manifest the Power of God in us through the help of a Master-Soul, we become really blessed.

Without the Holy Word there is no place of refuge, and we cannot escape the cycle of births and deaths.

We, all of us, are sitting in the giant wheel that is carrying us up and down in the mighty maze of the creation; and there is no peace for the soul. Among the Hindus, when the last moments of life draw nigh, it is customary to light an earthen lamp and place it near the head of the dying person; and he is asked to look straight into the flame, meaning thereby that the flame may take his soul upward along with it. This is just an outward ritual of the real Light which alone helps the soul on the onward journey.

Of this Light it is said:

This lamp burneth eternally.

An Enlightened Soul gives us a touch with this life to start with on the Spiritual Path. To ferry across the sea of life, one needs both the Inner Light and the Inner Sound Principle. These Inner Manifestations are possible in the company of One Who Himself has manifested them in Himself. One who has not yet got this Inner Contact still remains in the sphere of time and is to render account of all his deeds:

With the revelation of the Power of God inside, the book of deeds is wound up; oh Nanak! such a one is not to render any account to the just King.

Satguru settles all the accounts of His disciples. He pulls the soul up out of the world.

It is only the Guru-Power that can pull the sensory currents out of the body. It is only a fortunate one who meets a Perfect Master; and He links the soul with the Sound Current.

A Real Saint gives an actual Inner Experience.

He says:

Never take the words of a Master on their face value, unless you see for yourself the truth of what He says.

A personal experience works for conviction. The study of the scriptures creates in us some interest and prepares us for an experimental test.

Oh Nanak! one understands the greatness of God, when God Himself so wills in His Grace.

It is the Grace of the God that one meets a Truth-personified Saint. And such a Saint gives us a way in. Then He gives us an actual demonstration of what He says. Last but not the least, He in His Radiant Form guides the soul within from eye focus upwards. The company of such a Saint is a Real Blessing.

Oh Nanak! snap all thy ties with the people of the world and search thou the Eternal Friendship of some Saint; while the people of the world shall leave thee in the world at one stage or another, while He shall stand by thee to the end both here and in the hereafter.

All this and much more is the work of a theocentric Saint. It is He Who can grant you salvation through the Power of the Word made manifest. We have had this sermon from Guru Amar Das. His appeal is not to this or that sect, but to the humanity in general.

Enlightened Souls give out Truth which is common to all.