IX
Trinity in Religion
- The Shabd or the Naam;
- the Sat Sang or the Holy Congregation; and
- the institution of Khalsas for initiation purposes or going to the feet of the Khalsas for instructions, abiding by the dictates of Guru Granth Sahib – the Standard Guide.
Next, Guru Nanak goes on to tell us of the elementary steps leading to advancement in the Spiritual Path. These steps form the subject matter of stanzas 28 and 29 of Jap Ji. The qualifications befitting a probationer taking up the Spiritual Quest, are given in stanza 38. At the end of the Jap Ji, a description of the Five Spiritual Planes which the pilgrim soul has to traverse on the Way to the Lord, is given.
The experience of our own souls will stand to prove that this view of religion, as taught in Jap Ji by Guru Nanak, is the correct one. We will not have to wait for that purpose until death. The Master does not believe in promises on credit. If a man does not see the Lord while in this body, who is going to believe in life’s consummation after death?
Oh Lord, if thou art to give us salvation after death, what is the value thereof? – Oh, none!
Namdev
The devotion of oneself to the practical side of the teachings will prove the efficacy of the means devised by Nanak. A calm and Supreme Joy begins to region over the mind at the very outset. With the progress of time and practice, sweet symphonies are set afloat in the living temple of the human frame, and a world of heavenly Light is made effulgent. Ultimately, man is brought face to face with the heavenly Light in that place in which It is made all resplendent. In the end, man is brought to face the Effulgent Spirit in Its full swing. It is only then that the universe appears full of the Lord and that there is nothing of the world that is not the Word.
The Master wants each of us to penetrate through the fleeting forms and patterns and pass on from the phenomena of Nature to Nature’s God. He warns us not to be misled by alluring attractions and wild enchantments spread out by Dame Nature through her evanescent charms and fleeting beauties. We should take them merely as signposts pointing to the Lord, the Eternal God that resides within and pervades each of the ephemeral productions. He further wants us to summon up all our energies and press them into service, so as to make our bodies the living temples of the Divine Music – the Word –, in our earthly sojourn.
He, therefore, says:
Oh man, thou has come into the world to make a profitable business. But alas, thou art engaged in fruitless and bewildering things of life! The night (of earthly life) is nearing its end.
Guru Amar Das, Sri Rag M3
The merchandise that thou has come to deal in, is the all-pervading Naam – the Word – to be had from the Saints.
Guru Arjan, Gauri Sukhmani M5
Thou has got a human birth and this is thy chance to contact God.
Guru Nanak, Asa M1
Now or never!, is the motto given by Guru Nanak. Attachment to the objects of the senses, the gorgeous display of riches and wealth, the luxuriant abundance and opulence, the licentious sensualism of ease and affluence: all these contribute to the imbalance of the unsophisticated mind. These are the thorns and thistles that mar the beauty of the undisturbed state of mind, which is the soil best suited for the dawn of Divinity. Every day, every hour and every passing minute are leading us more and more into the bondage of sensuous worldly phenomena.
Nanak says:
Attached to the objective world, how could we have a glimpse of Thee, Oh, the Ever-existent One?
Guru Arjan, Bilawal M5
We must stop short and see where we stand and into what heights of Spirituality the True Master has come to lead us.