Thief of your Life’s Breath

IV

If you haven’t loved the Guru completely, you are not really near the Naam.

The Lord within each one sees whichever of His children are yearning to meet Him, and makes the appropriate condition for them to come to the feet of One in Whom He is manifested. It is a very rare privilege to meet a True Guru, and yet those who meet Him do not love Him completely. With outer show they touch His feet and sing His praises, but rarely do they obey His wishes.

All Masters tell the devotees to do their Simran and Bhajan. Hazur used to say,

You people give one tenth of your earnings, so you should also give one tenth of your time.

One tenth of a day is two and a half hours. Some sit for merely five minutes, some for half an hour, and many not at all. Others sit when the occasion fits their mood. If the connection which is given at initiation is not increased, what happens? The attention remains outward and does not withdraw and invert. A person may sit hours on end and others may think he is a devoted meditator, but inside he sees nothing! The face he shows to the world is white, but in the court of the Lord it is black.

Oh brothers, awake! This is the time to understand what is what! The Masters come, lift up their hands, and shout to the world,

Oh brothers, do your meditation, for without it you cannot be free.

It is said,

Take the Guru’s teaching, for without devotion many clever ones have drowned.

Learning and high degrees are of no use in this sphere.

There was once a very learned man, who upon approaching a river one day, asked a boatman to row him across. The boatman agreed and while they were crossing the river, the learned man asked him, Have you had any education? The boatman replied that he had received no education at all. The learned man remarked, Oh dear, you have wasted half of your life! Halfway across the river, the boat sprang a leak and began to sink. The boatman asked his companion, Did you ever learn to swim? The man replied that he had never learned swimming, and the boatman remarked, All your reading and writing is wasted here, and swam to the shore.

Now I am not suggesting that no one should study at all. Education is good in its place. But if the soul does not learn to leave the body at will, and has not derived intoxication from being drenched in the colour of Naam, no amount of speech or action will achieve success on the Spiritual Path. Remember this fact, for it is clear and simple. The Masters all explain the Truth in very simple terms:

The Masters in Truth say, make your meditation.

Listen! Open your ears and listen! He who has made his meditation has made everything. He whose meditation is not made will enjoy no meaning in his life’s achievements. There is great purpose behind this emphasis on the importance of meditation. If your daily life is not under control, try to bring it in control, or, give more time to meditation and you will be able to gain control quicker. He who becomes the Conscious Co-Worker of the Divine Plan will find that his righteous life is made. Whatever he does will be performed righteously; he will not be able to act otherwise. The reason behind your failure is that you have not truly loved your Master, but have merely made a show in various ways, physically or financially, or by lip-service. There is no one who has sacrificed his mind to the Guru. Without giving up the mind, there is no success.

The mind was sold to the Satguru; this server’s work was correct.

Give the mind into His keeping.

This physical form is the Master’s, this wealth is the Master’s, this mind has been given too.

Those who can do this will receive the greatest gift. The receiver may be a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, etc., for all outer religions are merely labels; we are all simply human beings. A human being is a soul with a body, and the soul’s caste is the same as God’s. We are all the Lord’s children, but unfortunately are going along in forgetfulness. And when we come to the Master, what does He teach us?

This possessiveness has gone, since I got the Master’s company; there is no enemy, no stranger, all now are very dear to me.

The change comes from within. We are human beings, but before that we are soul – the indweller of the physical body. Why is there so much dissention? When the people have right understanding, then peace will reign on earth. This is the only panacea for all ills; it always was and always will be. Whenever man forgets the truth – the Unity already existent in all – then sorrow and misery descend. The most effective cure for all distressing conditions is to join the soul back to the Lord and realise in Truth the unity that exists. 

Naam is the panacea for all ills.

Naam is no mere outer expression or show; it is a term given to the all-knowing and ever-existent Lord.

Naam is the Sustainer of Khand and Brahmand.

It is the God-in-action-Power which is controlling the whole of creation – Khand and Brahmand – and to be connected to that Power means to meditate on the Naam.

Those Who have meditated on the Naam, Their toils shall end, and Their faces shall flame with Glory; not only shall They have salvation, oh Nanak, but many more shall find freedom with Them.

The most urgent work before us is being spoiled by slothfulness – all because the Love for the Guru is not developed.

Christ told His followers,

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

We are also told,

He who obeys the Guru’s wishes knows what God is.

But do we obey? If we would obey implicitly for six months, we would see the magical change in our condition. You can get salvation in this very life! If the Giver is there, where is the pain in receiving? But unfortunately, the one who was supposed to receive the priceless gift is deep in slothfulness, sleeping or drifting away in the clutches of the senses. Those who receive something decide to put it away and ignore it. How can you expect the worldly conditions to change if you are not changing?