The Real Reality

VII

One may raise a palatial mansion, but what is it? ? a house built on sand. Whatever thou gathereth for thy comforts and in blindness regardeth as thine is all delusion.

We are living in a state of continuous flux. In this changing panorama of life, we, too, are changing every moment. This is why we cannot appreciate the changing nature of the physical self and of the world around us. We think that we have to live permanently in this world. We, therefore, build big and tall houses with deep foundations so that they may last long. They may outlast us, but they cannot last forever. Like a caravansary, our sons and grandsons may live in them for a while like us and depart likewise. Even these solid stately houses cannot last forever. In course of time, they are reduced to rubble. Do we not see so many ruins around us as relics of the past glory? A really Awakened Soul is not bothered about palaces and cottages, which are to Him just as night shelters ? one may be for the rich and the other for the poor. 

It has rightly been said that a camel may pass through the eye of a needle, but a rich man cannot enter the Kingdom of God. And why? Because the Path Godwards is for the humble in spirit and not for those with an inflated ego. A rich man, on the other hand, is too much mixed up with the world. And more so, he has a heavy load of karmas on his head.

Stuck fast in the quagmire, an animal with a heavy load on his back cannot be pulled out easily. What do we do? We have first to lighten his load and then drag him out of the mud. This is exactly what a Guru does. In His Grace and compassion, He momentarily lifts up the soul currents from the body in which they are stuck fast and then opens the way up to give a little demonstration of the Power of God in us.

Herein lies the greatness of a Perfect Master: 

What does it avail to take refuge with a Jagat Guru (world teacher) if he cannot wind up our karmas? In the presence of a lion, the jackals cannot come nigh and howl about.

A Saint Who has Himself transcended all the karmic zones knows how to wind up our karmas. At the time of initiation, in particular, it is He Who by His power pulls us up, in spite of us, and grants a peep into the inscape. This experience cannot be imparted by the so-called teachers of the world, however learned they may be. But an unlettered Guru may do it if He is a Guru in the true sense of the word ? a torch bearer. The question is one of giving an actual Inner Experience. 

It is with the Grace of the Guru that one begins to understand himself.

And this understanding comes when one rises above the body and bodily senses. There is a way up above the body. As such you are the manipulator of the body and not the slave of it. Behind you there is a vast reservoir of Power called God. We have to know God, understand God, and experience God. This is the purpose of our birth ? to know the will and ways of God. 

We are all engaged in amassing wealth and feel proud to do so. But all our riches remain behind when we depart from the world. What do we take with us when we leave? Not the wealth, not the ill-gotten gains, but the sad memory of the evil ways and inhuman practices by which we gathered our possessions. Possessiveness is the greatest evil. A blind man regards his possessions as his own. But an Awakened Person does not. We, sadly enough, live in the realm of mine and thine: 

One may build golden palaces and live in the midst of gold; but in the end, none of them will go along, and the golden palaces and glittering gold shall all remain behind.

It does not mean that we should not earn riches and should not have property. There is nothing wrong in them. All that is required is that we should be honest in our ways and means in the acquisition of these things. And then we should be grateful to God Who has helped us to them. These should better be considered as His gifts and should be treated as such, free from all sense of egoism: 

We must remember God in the closet of our mind; God by Whose Grace we are happily living in the temple of our body.

Excuse me, when I say that the priest craft has vested interests even in their religious performances. They are making a business out of them. They offer prayers for and on behalf of others just to make their own living. They sell indulgences for a pittance. They have found an easy way to earn money. All this is a kind of profession just like any other profession. But Spirituality is altogether something different and is a heritage of Saints. 

Now Guru Nanak, addressing His mind, gives an axiomatic Truth of immense value: 

Listen ye fool of an ignorant mind, what thou geteth is ordained from above.

Now appeal is direct to the mind. Mind is the chief factor in the drama of life. Every action has a reaction. The invisible finger of God moves in accordance with our actions. As we sow, so we have to reap. Can we escape from this network? Yes, we can. If we develop an all-seeing eye, we become the seer and cease to be the doer. In the Holy Light of God, there remains nothing to bind us down.

So this exhortation to the mind: 

Oh mind, thou liveth in the Light of God, why doth thou not recognise thy source?

This is a cry of anguish from the heart. Why? Because all the while we are busy in the world and the worldly things. We never pause for a moment to think of our own Self. We cannot possibly save our soul without becoming a Conscious Co-Worker of the Divine Plan. This is the summum bonum of life, and the Masters have laid great emphasis on it.

Nanak now winds up His song with the following words: 

Our Lord God is the Supreme Being, and we have to trade with Him; our mind and body are both from Him; we live, die, and are born again because of Him.

The greatest fact in God?s universe is God. The greatest need of human-kind is to know God. And the greatest purpose of God is to reveal Himself to man. And again, God reveals Himself through some Godman. 

The Godman, with a clarion call, invites us to His Father?s mansion.

I do nothing on my own. I call them as my Father wisheth.

Guru Arjan says likewise: 

He Who hath sent thee into the world is calling thee back; come thou with me with ease and pleasure.

Thus we are sent into the world to find our real Self and then the self of Self. This is the sole purpose of the Divine Plan. This is real trade ? the trade of Naam or the Holy Word. How can this be done? By Satsang and search for Sat ? Truth. For Satsang, we have to find the Sat Purush or One Who is Truth-personified. Having found a Godman, we have to develop loving faith in Him and to scrupulously follow what He says. He wants us to lead a clean life of purity and chastity. And then He gives instructions and guidance and enables us to have a practical experience of God within us. Truth is above everything, but True Living is higher still. We have to mould our lives on the pattern of the Godman. 

Without this nothing can be achieved. It is, therefore, said: 

He who lives truly for Truth is my True Disciple; such a one is my Lord God, and I feel proud of such a disciple.

We have to forsake the flesh for the spirit. We have to leave the world for the Word. But what do we see? Crying we come, and wailing we go. Are we not children of God? Is not God-Power surging in us from top to toe? Do we not live and die according to His will? His will is wrought in the very pattern of our being. It is then all the more necessary that we may learn to live in His Light of Life. Mere hearing is not enough. Do it and practise it from day to day. Let us practise God in our daily life and be forever happily free.