September 1900
My Love to my obedient son, Babu Sawan Singh, and to Basant Singh, Chanan Singh, Gajja Singh Ji, Babu Gulab Singh, Narain Singh, Diwan Singh, Babu Hari Ram, Malik Thakar Das Ji, and the elder Bibi Ji and the younger Bibi Ji. Love to little Gursharan.
Dear son
I received the letter you sent me and was delighted to read it. We are going to build five small rooms that will be nine feet wide and ten feet long – a single large room is not conducive to Bhajan, as too many people together would indulge in idle talk. At your request, I have extended each small room by one foot in width and two in length. We are building them for meditation, and not for accommodating lots of people. After this letter I will write again when all the money has been received. Long logs cannot be found, whereas ten- to twelve-foot logs are abundantly available. Also, a small roof tends to be strong. Anyway, we will do as you wish. Write soon because the construction will start presently.
I have borrowed 200 rupees and started the project. Over and above this amount, send some additional money so that the building may be finished by Katik1 or Maghar2, but send it only in instalments of 50, and never more than that. I have purchased 30 logs for 50 rupees and 6 annas for the six-foot door frames and panels; 5 twelve-foot logs for the ceiling under the roof for 22 rupees and 8 annas; and for the roof of both the five rooms and the veranda, 60 ten-foot logs for 157 rupees and 8 annas. Thus all the wood has been purchased. You may calculate the price per log by dividing the whole amount: the total for this deodar timber has come to 230 rupees and 6 annas. Four masons and eight labourers are working on the job, and they say that the building will be ready by Kartik. Three carpenters are also working on it. One hundred rupees, in two instalments of 50 each, have been received here. More is needed soon – probably you have already sent it. I should be getting two instalments of 50 each. The rest you can understand: an additional 200 rupees are urgently required.
Warm regards to Babu Hari Ram; also warm regards to Malik Thakar Das Ji, to Gursharan, and to the elder Bibi Ji and the younger Bibi Ji. A letter from Babu Hari Ram was received and I was very happy to read it. All the entreaties he made in his letter will be fulfilled, but slowly and gradually. Whatever is requested will be received from the court of the compassionate Hazur. Please do your Bhajan and Simran. This is the full reply to Babu Hari Ram’s letter; more cannot be written.
A letter was also received from Ram Piara; I was happy to read that too. Best wishes to Ram Piara.
Stay happy in whatever circumstances you are placed, my son, and keep doing Bhajan and Simran every day. Everything that happens only happens through His command and His will. So wait and see, do not ask for anything, and do your meditation. When it pleases Him, He will call you in order to give.
This is the complete answer to your letter.
And now a brief response to Babu Sawan Singh’s letter.
What you ask for, my son, will all be given to you, and indeed has already been allotted, but is being held in reserve by the Satguru. You alone are to be given it. A father, for instance, has a treasure in store for his son but does not give it to him prematurely. It is the son’s, of course, but the father gives it only after testing him, because if it were given right away, he would squander it. The father first observes the son’s loyalty and obedience. That treasure is unreal, but still it is given only after testing the son’s heart. This treasure, however, is real – it will never be depleted. The whole universe may use it to achieve salvation, and still it will not run out. It abides only where the vessel is that of a perfect disciple. Therefore become such a person.
Earthly wealth has already been given to you, my son. Now turn out all worldly desires from the mind and keep the Satguru’s instructions within it, and then see how everything becomes His Grace and Mercy. Place everything that is yours – body, mind, wealth, and the attentive faculties of surat and nirat – everything, before the Satguru. Do not claim even a tiny bit as your own. Remain watchful for His command; keep in mind the Guru’s words and act accordingly. He may order you to cut grass – for you that is the highest honour. Welcome it wholeheartedly as sweetness itself. Test your mind in this manner; only then is the work complete. Sach Khand is just behind this veil, my son, it is not far away. So why get perturbed? Rest assured, you will go Home. You write that you will leave both home and service in order to do Bhajan. What is yours in your home, my son, and what is yours in your service, and what is yours in your wealth? Just think a little. In all these, what is there to let go of, and what is there to hang onto? This is merely a juggler’s trick. The world, my son, is a dream. You write that you haven’t talked with anyone about money so that you may not become proud. What is there to be proud of, my son?
September 1900
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Explanation: 1) The 8th month of the Sikh calendar; from 15 October to 13 November. 2) The 9th month of the Sikh calendar; from 14 November to 13 December.