XXIII / (i)

Ask for God

One may invoke help in crucial moments of his life, from God or from a Godman, for He alone can rescue him from such slippery moments.

Full of the deadly sins and tormented by lusts of the flesh I cry, rescue me by Thy Grace, as best Thou may. Oh Great and Compassionate One! I am at Thy mercy, with austerities and penances one cannot escape, but with Thy glance of Grace, take Nanak out of the blind well.

Guru Arjan, Kanra M5

Oh Lord! save me, I am incapable of doing anything, in Thy mercy, grant me the gift of Naam.

Guru Arjan, Dhanasari M5

I pray to the Guru, the beloved of God, a filthy worm am I, oh grant me the Light of Naam.

Guru Ram Das, Gujri M4

Mind can be controlled only by the Dhun of Naam or the celestial strains of music, and it is for this that one has to pray. No other type of yoga – Jnana, Hatha, Karma, etc. – can be of any avail in this connection; nor has anyone been able to escape from the clutches of the mind with all his wits about him. One may tame the wild mind only through the practice of Sat-Shabd or Naam (the True Word) and one can have initiation into this practice from some Adept in the line. The moment it comes into contact with Naam the mind gets docile and instead of being an archtraitor as hitherto, it turns into a positive ally and helps the spirit in its onward march on the Spiritual Path.

Oh I have got the treasure of Hari Naam, my mind now wanders not but is in eternal rest.

Guru Teg Bahadur, Basant M9

Listening to the Dhun, the mind gets stilled, none of the myriad of ways can work this miracle. The yogin practices yogic exercises, the Jnani is immersed in Jnana. The hermit tires himself out in lone solitude, the anchorite does endless austerities. Those who meditate on the mental patterns, they too suffer from a great delusion. Learning and knowledge are of not much avail, for the wise in the end have to rue their wisdom. The Pandit engages in the recitation of the Vedas but all his sacred lore fails to take him any nearer to God. No other means are of any consequence whatever, the only beneficial way is that of Shabd. When a Master of the Sound Current appears on the scene, the disciple too begins to feel the yearning of the new birth. With the practice of the Surat Shabd Yoga, the mind-stuff gradually sinks within itself till nothing remains.

Swami Shiv Dayal Singh, Sar Bachan 216

When once this contact with Naam is established, the Sadhak always feels the presence of the Higher Power and the Power remains forever with him wherever he may be – on the snowy mountain tops or in the burning desert sands. Reveling in the greatness of that Power he leaves all his cares to Him and becomes indifferent to everything around him. He cheerfully accepts whatever comes his way as coming from Him for his benefit alone. He consciously sees the Divine Will at work and smilingly surrenders himself to it with words of genuine gratitude on his lips. He has no longer any wishes and desires of his own except what may be of God. Now he works as a mere instrument moving like an automaton under the influence of that Power. He sees all creatures, high and low, just as tiny specks set in an orderly harmony in the immense Universe surrounding him. He now divines a procession which is orderly, an order which is harmonious, obeying a Will infinitely above him and yet infinitesimally careful of him. In this way is established a complete harmony between the soul of man and the soul of the Universe. At every step he cries forth, Let thy Will be done:

All creatures, the highest to the lowest, are at Thy mercy, and Thou carest for them one and all. Whatever pleaseth Thee, that is best; Nanak has no other wish but this.

Guru Nanak, Bilawal M1

Whatever pleaseth Thee is good, Thou art forevermore, oh Formless one.

Jap Ji

Oh Nanak! Great is the Power of Naam, let there be peace unto all, through Thy Will.

The pontifical blessings generally end with the words: Urbi et Orbi. (To the citizen and the world.)

In the end there comes a stage when the Sadhak feels no necessity even for prayer.

Sweet art Thy doings, Nanak desireth only Hari Naam. 

Guru Arjan, Asa M5

In whatsoever state I am, that is a Heaven unto me.

Guru Arjan, Asa M5

When God is the Knower of the secrets of all, there hardly remains anything to be told Him. With the Lord seated in each one of us and permeating our very being, what need is there to pray and to whom?

Hari is the Indweller and knoweth all, to whom then art we to tell of us?

Guru Arjan, Sorath M5

What should the lowly urge for? When God is seated within all.

Guru Ram Das, Kanra M4

Saints always live in this state. Being one with His Will and conscious co-workers with Him, prayer of itself becomes a heresy for them and savours of scepticism. Nature's forces simply wait on them. However slight a thought may arise, it must, like an immutable law, prevail. God is ever with His devotee and looks after him with more care and attention than any loving mother would give her child.

Guru Arjan tells us:

He who asks from the Lord, whatever it be, that is granted forthwith, oh Nanak! the words of the devotee do come true wherever he may be.

Guru Arjan, Dhanasari M5

For the sake of His devotee He runs far and near, and stands ever by his side, whatever the devotee asks of Him, that must happen.

Guru Arjan, Asa M5

Kabir, describing the condition of his mind, tells us that it has, like the water of Ganges, become so transparent that even God has become enamoured of him:

Kabir, thy mind is now as clear as the Ganges water. Even God Himself restlessly follows thee shouting, “Kabir, Kabir.”

Kabir, Shalok Kabir

When all the desires of a devotee get automatically fulfilled, he naturally becomes desireless. The wish-yielding treasure of Naam becoming manifest within, takes care of him at every step.

With the Lord God as a loving Father, the child has no hunger for aught, for Thou art the treasure-house of Naam and he gets whatever he wishes.

Guru Arjan, Malar M5

The prayers of the devotee cannot go in vain.

Guru Arjan, Bilawal M5

When the Great Donor is with the devotee, the latter has nothing to pray for or ask of; for he is one with Him and there is nothing besides whom he may address.

Guru Arjan draws a wonderful pen-picture of this state of perfect satiety:

Deathless is He and I have nothing to fear, He being immortal, I have not to wail; He is not poor and I have no want, He being above sorrow and pain, I too have none; besides Him there is no destroyer, He and I live eternally, when He is free, there is nothing to bind me, both of us are above the stage of bondage; He being Immaculate, I too have no stain, He being within me, what taint can I have? He has nothing to think of and nothing is left for me to think, neither of us has anything to gloss over; desireless is He and I too desire nothing, He is spotlessly pure and so am I, I have no existence apart from Him, for He alone is: oh Nanak! through the Master has this delusion disappeared: having dipped in Him, we are dyed in one colour. 

Guru Arjan, Asa M5