The Night is a Jungle

VII

The Prophet Mohammed said that one should eat one mouthful less at each meal. Sheikh Saadi said that half of the stomach should be filled with food, one-fourth with water, and one-fourth left empty. Swami Ji Maharaj said that those who desire to taste the Nectar of Shabd should eat one meal per day only. We eat too much – naturally sleep will come to our house. If your food is regularised you will rise up punctually in the morning. The awakened man’s body may sleep, but he does not. Remember, the soul is a conscious entity and usually when a person sleeps, the soul withdraws to the throat and then man experiences dreams. If it withdraws to the navel, deep sleep ensues. The Masters remains awake. Unlike others, They are awake while sleeping. This is a very noble aim to aspire to. These three things will help you: to eat less, sleep less and have mercy, forgiveness and love.

“Mercy is the interest gained from righteous living, pride’s interest is sin; oh Tulsi, leave not mercy while this body breathes.”

A person has more pity for his family and friends than for strangers. Is this compassion? If one’s neighbours are dying of starvation while one is eating one’s fill, what kind of mercy is this? Should your own child be sick, yet you hear of another’s that needs help; if you have True Mercy you will give more attention to the strange child.

When Guru Gobind Singh’s children were killed in a battle, His wife came crying to Him – 

Where are my four sons?

His words are noteworthy:

For the heads of all these sons (the followers) have I sacrificed the four.

This is what you can call compassion. He sacrificed all that was His for the sons of others. Did He win any empire or property for Himself? True Masters have Real Compassion for people.

When Jesus Christ was sitting with some people, He was told that His mother and relatives were outside, desiring to speak to Him. What was His reply?

He said,

Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? 

And indicating His disciples and followers, He said,

Behold, my mother and my brothers!

If someone makes a mistake, forgive him. But people prefer justice to forgiveness. Remember this, that with justice, the heart is never cleansed.

I will give an example from my own experience.

My wife was once travelling home by train, and I went to meet her at the railway station. As soon as she stepped off the train, and before I had even approached her, a pickpocket stole her purse and ran off. As it happened, a wide-awake police constable had witnessed the incident, quickly caught the man and returned the purse to my wife. With a firm grip on the thief, the policeman turned to me and said, You must also come along to the police station. I pointed out to him that as we had recovered the purse, we were quite satisfied; but he protested and said This sort of thing is happening frequently, you must come and make a charge.

I went along to the police station and sat there for more than an hour without anything being done. I told the inspector, I am not concerned with this, you can also keep the purse – I am going. He took my statement at once, and eventually I had to go court. It was the first time I had ever stepped into a courtroom. While waiting for the proceedings to start, the inspector remarked to me, Justice must be done. I told him, Brother, along with justice, there should also be compassion; both should go side by side. With justice the heart remains affected, but compassion washes away all impurities.

When the judge had heard the case, I said, Your honour, if you can find a way of releasing this man, I have no objection. The judge was surprised, but he asked the police about the man’s previous record, and was told that no charges were recorded against him. The judge agreed to let him go with a good warning and he was released. That man returned to his family with a happy heart; he went around telling people, If He had not saved me, I would now be in prison.

Outwardly a person may be emphatic that he forgives; but in his heart he wants to strike out at the offender and cut the very roots of him. If you have no compassion in the mind, how can you honestly say you forgive? God is Love, and as a part of Him, the soul’s innate nature is also Love.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji has said,

Hear ye all, I tell you in Truth; God is realised by one who loves.

Kabir says, 

Love the Lord, oh mind, love the Lord. 

And in the Bible,

He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is Love.

1 St John 4:8 

We pray and perform rites that the Love of God may be born in us – what other purpose is there? But what results will come from the prayers that are mingled with gossip? What will it avail us to leave the place of worship without a trace of Love in our hearts for our fellow beings?

“Chastity, contentment, and remain stabilised; then you will go beyond the three gunas¹.”

Adopt a righteous way of life and be content. You may have certain desires, but stop there; don’t increase them. Then reconsider the desires and where they will take you. What lies ahead, and what will you take with you? We are hurrying, scurrying through life; we are not even conscious of what we are doing most of the time. So the Guru advises us to handle all our affairs with tranquil serenity; then you have a chance of reaching Trigunatit – beyond the three attributes –, and then going beyond.

Lord Krishna, in the famous Bhagavad Gita, told Arjuna, 

Oh Arjuna, go beyond the three gunas. 

Unless you go beyond, you will continue coming and going round and round in Pind, And and Brahmand.

“Desire, lust, anger, pride, greed, perversity, attachment; do not allow these in your mind.”

To go more deeply into the matter, what constitutes desire?

All conceptions in the mind are desires.

So, be desireless. You will have noticed that when an obstacle blocks the achievement of one’s desire, anger arises. Then there is pride – ‘I must have this – or do this –, otherwise I will be belittled in the eyes of others.’ One can accept pride as being the basis of all sins, for it turns into I-hood. He recommends us to leave off perversity, or stop being obstinate. Always be sure and listen to the other person’s point of view – you may find that what he is saying is correct. Perversity just binds a person more; there is no room for expansion. Dogmatic knowledge of books, for instance, which might be right or wrong, should be discarded. It goes without saying that all attachments should be broken away – you must finish up the give and take – you must leave the body and all its environments. If an obstacle comes between you and your desire, it grows even stronger. Just put a large rock in the middle of a fast-flowing stream and you will create two things, froth and noise. When a man is angry, he cannot speak softly, and finally he froths at the mouth. If you do get the thing you desire, it turns into attachment. 

There is one cure for all this: 

Only after seeing your True Self, can you realise the Lord.

_______________

Explanation: 1) Attributes: satva – pure; rajas – active; and tamas – inert.