The Real Reality

V

We have very hazy notions of truthfulness. We try to be clever by suppressing Truth and by giving false suggestions in the garb of Truth. Both these things are despicable. Suppressio veri and suggesstio falsi are equally condemned, for they are far from Truth. Some of us are in the habit of giving out half-truths ? as much of Truth as suits our purpose. Some of us feel that in business we cannot succeed unless we adopt such tactics. But mind, this is not the case. You may lose a customer here and there; but when people would know of your integrity and honesty, you will have brisk business. 

Next in importance are chastity ? a life of rectitude ? and non-violence, Universal Love, and selfless service and sacrifice. We must not only wish well of everybody, but think and act likewise. These are some of the instances of sukrat karmas or Godly Acts. 

When the five Pandavas were sent for schooling, the first thing that the teacher taught to them was to speak truth, accept truth, and live truth. In the traditional way of teaching, emphasis was on practicality and not simply understanding a thing on an intellectual level. After some time the teacher inquired of them if they had learned their lesson to heart. All the brothers except the eldest Yudishtra replied in the affirmative. When his turn came, he said, I am trying to learn the lesson by the roots, and it would take some time before I take roots into it. Again, sometime after the teacher repeated his inquiry Yudishtra replied that he had not yet fully grasped and practised the truth of what he had been taught. 

This is called learning the lesson by the roots and not by rote. Yudishtra learned his lesson to the very core and practised it all his life, with the result that he came to be known as Dharmaputra ? a Real Apostle of Truth. 

Those who are devoted to the Master and follow His commandments, they live carefree in all the three worlds, so saith Kabir.

Righteousness is the greatest of virtues. It washes off myriads of evil impressions. If we are obliged to hide our deeds or to polish them up with lies or prevarication, we must take it for certain that there is something wrong in them. Next to righteousness is chastity. Truth is great but True Living is greater still. Chastity is life, and indulgence is death. To live as a householder in conformity with the scriptural injunctions is no sin. Marriage is no bar to Spirituality. It is a sacrament and must be observed and lived as such. If we indulge in it for sex enjoyment, it is sinful; and the wages of sin are death. We must lead a life of continence in thought, word, and deed. Again, God dwells in all of us. We are children of God and we worship the same God. This being the case, there is no reason why we should hate anybody. One may be occupying a seat of honour and another may be standing in attendance upon him.

It is all a play of karmas. Furthermore, when the same God-Power is in each one of us, it is but natural that one should be of service to another. In fact, by serving another we are serving our own self in another form. Next comes Ahimsa or non-violence. It is said to be the greatest Dharma, duty. If you are in search of God, try to see Him in yourself and in others. If you realise this you will not do injustice to anyone. All these are Godly Acts and help one in self-realisation and God-Realisation. And, we must take to them forthwith, for life is uncertain and we cannot be sure of the next moment. While practising these we have to commune with the Word. 

The next question before us is as to the nature of the Holy Word. God in absolute is Nameless. When He came into expression, He became a Name ? the Word. It is by this Power of God that the world came into being. Why He exercised this Power, we do not know. We are all engaged in the game of blind man?s bluff in which one person is blindfolded by the master of the game and the rest hide themselves. Whosoever touches the master of the game is considered safe while the play goes on with the rest.

This is exactly the case with us. We are blindly searching for God, each one in his own way. He who is fortunate enough to find his way out to Him is saved and escapes from the clutches of mind and matter. We have, after all, to develop our Inner Eye whereby to perceive the Power of God in us. For this purpose, we have to accept and practise Godly Acts and establish a communion with the Holy Word. 

These are the things which abide with the soul and help in liberating it from the wheel of life and death. Having learned the two prerequisites for the way out, we still need the help of Someone Who has already become One with that God-Power. It is in His company and with His guidance that we can safely traverse the Spiritual Path which is fraught with dangers and pitfalls. The Guru knows the turns and twists of the road; and without His able guidance, one cannot make any headway on the Path. We have to accept His guidance without any mental reservations; and one who does so will know the secret of the God-Power, for It is working in fullness at that Human Pole. 

Guru Nanak then goes on to say: 

Addressing himself, Nanak lays emphasis on the instructions of the Master; why dost thou talk idly of others and speak ill of them?

To slander others is a vile act. It is a double-edged weapon. It hurts both the slanderer and slandered. To speak rightly of a person or a thing is a very difficult job.

It is, therefore, said: 

Judge not, lest ye be judged and found wanting (by the Great Judge).

But, we recklessly indulge in talking loosely of others and take delight in it. 

My Master, Hazur Baba Sawan Singh Ji, used to say: 

There is, no doubt, some taste, sweet, sour, or bitter in whatever we eat; but tell me, what taste does calumny bring to you? Is it not something tasteless? Why then should we indulge in something which has no taste at all?

But, with all this we waste most of our time in talking ill of one or the other. We all the time try to weigh each others? thoughts, words and deeds, riches, and domestic affairs. What is the result of all this? When we hear this talk all around us, of our friends and relations, we naturally lose faith in everybody. So, instead of working for God, we become unpaid apprentices of the C.I.D¹. of God. If a person is good, we should try to emulate him. If one is on the God-Path, we should try to follow him. So far so good. But to be jealous of others does not pay. Jealousy breeds suspicion and unnecessarily makes one nervous and timid. The God-Way is for the strong and not for the weak. Constant worry corrodes the mind. We must forget the past and work for our betterment in the living present. 

The great men say: 

So far and no further.

They draw a dividing line between the past and the present and want us not to fall again ? fall below the eye-focus. 

Oh ye, thy eyes are set on the affairs of others and how ye may steal a march on them. The moment thy soul departs, thou shalt remain behind as once deserted.

For most of the time we are occupied with the affairs of other people: their wealth and riches, their robes and attires, their wives and children. The whole day we talk of nothing else but these things. We never for a moment pause to think if there is anything else besides them. We make odious comparisons and then start fretting and fuming over what we call our ill-luck and misfortune. We work ourselves to a pitch over our supposed grievances and injustices of God. What is the result? We buy for ourselves heartaches and headaches for nothing.

Then in a fit of frenzy, we try, by hook or by crook, to get to the level of others. We do not know that with all our cleverness and cunning, we cannot get more than what is destined for us. The result is that we go on adding to the load of our karmas without any return in the shape of material gains. And if at all, we secure some advantages and make trivial gains here and there by our manoeuvres and tactics, what is their value? For how long are they going to last with us? Ill-got ill-spent. Ill-means and ill-ends remain with us, and we shall have to pay for them ? pay for trash and at a heavy cost, indeed. All the misdeeds we do are just for satisfying our momentary desires. Life is but a vapour and vanisheth in no time. 

When the ghost leaves the body, what remains? This very material body for which we make so much bother and indulge in all sorts of mad tricks and dirty games. What is now going to be the end of this tabernacle of the flesh? Nobody in the family likes to keep it even for a moment. Everyone seems keen to dispose of it and consign it either to the flames or to the grave. While he was living, he was the cynosure of all eyes; and everyone looked up to him for one kind of favour or another. Now that the indweller has slipped out, nobody cares for it. This then is the body for which we work so much day in and day out. 

Why sleep ye in the dreamland of the world and not do anything of abiding interest to thee? Why try ye to hoodwink others just for the passing pleasures of thy mind? What does thou gain here in this world and the next except that ye barter life for nothing?

It is a commonsense talk. In great detail we are told how we waste the precious human life that is given to us for a specific purpose ? the purpose being self-realisation and God-Realisation. But when an Awakened Person like Nanak sees us going the wrong way, He cannot but make a heart-rending appeal to our commonsense. He tells us to have a correct view of life. First things first.

From the level of the soul which is the substratum of everything in the world, including our mind and senses, we must first pay attention to it. On the contrary, we work all the time for the welfare of our body and for mental development and pay scant attention to the Soul, the driving force in us. Karmas by themselves, however good and meritorious they may be, cannot be of any help in this respect. We have to reach the still-point of the soul by rising above both the body and the mind. It is here that one becomes neh karma or actionless in action. Until and unless we cross all the mental zones by the Grace and guidance of the God-Power manifested in some Human Pole, we cannot transcend this treacherous ground.

_______________

Explanation: 1) Confidential Investigation Department ? the Indian equivalent of the American F.B.I.