Conduct of Life
He prescribed a methodology for achieving success in life. Absorbed in the Lord of Love the disciple grows in the sewa of Sat Sangat, the selfless and loving service of all. In such supreme and selfless service, many a Koda Rakhshas and Sajjan thug were redeemed during His ministry.
He exhorted the people to earn their living through honest and fair means. This was a rule not for the disciples and the laity only, but even for real teachers and preachers.
He went to the length of saying:
Bow not unto him who, claiming to be a Godman, lives on the charity of others. He Who earns His living with the sweat of His brow and shares it with all, can know the Way to God.
That which belongs to another is not to be wished and craved for, much less grabbed, for it is as odious and noxious as pork is to a Muslim and beef to a Hindu.
He forbade people from encroaching upon the rights of others. Those who thrive on ill-gotten gains can never have a pure heart.
Time and again He stressed the puritiy of heart through virtuous deeds performed in the Love of the Lord. It is only the deeds that count and not the religious hallmarks that one may bear.
The chanting of the Name of the Lord was a necessity but with a pure heart and a clean tongue for without these all our prayers, however loud and long, would never bear any fruit.
It is the deeds alone that are weighed in the Divine Scales and determine one’s place in relation to God.
It is with the alchemy of God’s Love that one can transform hardened criminals into men of piety.
Nanak never advocated ostentatious renunciation as a means of God-Realisation. He taught that salvation was possible for a householder, as for any other person, through proper rendering of his duties and obligations with faith in God. He believed in the efficacy of prayers not only for all mankind but for animals, birds and all other creatures. He Himself always prayed for peace unto all the world under the Divine Will.
Nanak emphasised developing the life of the Spirit for all True Men and Women. Such persons live not for themselves alone but for others.
To live for others is the highest norm, he alone liveth who liveth for others.
He defined a truly Great Man as one who renounced all his desires and cared not for the fruits of his actions.
The seeker after God was enjoined to cultivate purity of heart above anything else.
He who is so much identified with the body and is engrossed head and ears in the lusts of the flesh, could never be picked up by the Lord as His own.
He who blesses others is blessed in return. A seeker after happiness must make others happy.
The Guru stressed the need of prayer. Where all human efforts fail, there prayer succeeds. Sit in silence each day and pray to God, or God manifested in man, to draw you nearer to Him from day to day and grant you the company1 of those who are dear to Him.
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Explanation: When scientifically observed facts drawn from practice and experiment are explained verbally to a gathering by a Master-Saint, it is called Satsang (external). This Satsang constitutes the theoretical side of the teachings, whereas the actual demonstration given to develop and achieve Inner Advancement is the practical part, called meditation or Satsang (internal). Conscientious practice brings fruit within days or weeks and it is not necessary to wait for years for results, though progress also depends, to some extent, on one’s past background. A True Master gives a first-hand Inner Experience at the very first sitting. (Source: ‘Man, know thyself – Chapter V: Satsang’, by Kirpal Singh, 1894–1974)