To gain His Pleasure

II

There is only one thing to understand – how to remove the separating curtain between ‘me’ and ‘you.’

Get the True Bhakti from the Guru; then only can He invade the mind.

When you have completely surrendered yourself to the Guru, no questions or doubts remain. Everything becomes serene, calm, quiet, and the awakenedness springs forth. Life comes from life – there is no other way of realising the truth.

Those who see the Truth in all its reality say,

This is a very curious image, this human form!

They are not the human form, but are something else.

Bhai Nand Lal Ji, Who was a very devoted disciple of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, says, 

For one hair of my beloved Satguru, I will sacrifice both worlds (this and the next).

Only he who can see even some small reflection of the Truth can make such a statement.

For Muslims, a Living Master is considered to be heresy, and when Amir Khusro was initiated by his Guru the people criticised him, calling him a heathen.

Khusro was unshaken and remarked,

Yes I am a devotee of a living form, but what has this to do with the world and its opinions?

When you become someone’s, become his very image. To incur the pleasure of a Complete Master is to incur the pleasure of God. 

Swami Ji Maharaj says, 

If the Guru is pleased, then God is pleased.

But the Guru should be a Guru and not just so called. Of what value is the pleasure of him who is under the influence of his mind and senses? People often get a bitter experience and then blame the whole of Gurudom, but those who are fortunate to have their Inner Eye developed even a little, see an Inner Reflection of the Truth.

Even one enlivening glance from You, oh Guru, is enough to infuse me with Life.

If He turns His eyes from us, both our worldly and Spiritual Existence will finish. Once this happens, it is most difficult to regain His attention, for no one knows what action will be pleasing to Him.

Perfect Masters do not allow vanity, self-importance and self-praising to remain in Their followers, but gradually weed them out.

Bulleh Shah, who belonged to the high caste, took initiation from Sai Inayat Shah Sahib. One day, the Master sent some of His followers to Bulleh Shah’s home, telling them to sing and dance outside his house. They did this, calling out, Oh Bulleh Shah, we are your Gurubhais (brothers under the same Master), so come out and meet us. Now, singing and dancing in the streets is considered to be unseemly behaviour, that of very low-caste people, and when Bulleh Shah was told that his brother disciples had come, he said, No, I do not know them – they are nothing to do with me.

When the disciples returned to the Master, He told them, It does not matter, from today I will not water that plant.

Remember, that the Guru gives nourishment to the disciples through His attention, even if they are thousands of miles away.

A Satguru looks after His disciple with His own Life-Impulse.

Only a few days ago a disciple in the West wrote to me:

When I sit for meditation, and even for sometime afterwards, there is a sweet fragrance.

I explained that this was a direct result of the thought-waves which are received when one is receptive to the Master. Receptivity is very necessary. If a radio set is not turned properly, there will be no sound. It is most difficult to please a Guru; He is above offerings of a money, property and worldly goods. You cannot have His pleasure by demand either. His pleasure may be gained through respectful attention, obedience to His wishes, devotion, and selfless service to humanity. If the disciple does not wish to live like this, then what can be achieved without the Guru’s Mercy?

I remember once in a Lahore, my Master called me and said,

Kirpal Singh, I have planted the saplings, you have to give them water.

I replied,

Hazur, however much water You send through this hose-pipe, will be given.

To be careless about our attitude and action in respect to our Guru is very dangerous.

Bulleh Shah’s Inner Enjoyment was stopped from that moment, and by the Gurus orders he was also not allowed to enter the Master’s court. In those days, Shah Inayat permitted His followers to express the Holy Hymns in song and dance before Him, and appeared to show His pleasure at such occasions. There was a certain prostitute who was very talented in her execution of the Holy Songs, and she would attend Him regularly each week. For Bulleh Shah, it was as if both worlds, inner and outer, had sunken into deep and silent gloom – such was his condition without the glance and thought transference of his Master. So in desperation, and greatly anxious to regain his Master’s favour, he went to the prostitute and begged her to give him any amount of work, in return for which, he requested her to teach him how to sing; with the hope of giving the Master some enjoyment.

For instance, if a Master approves of selfless service and helping the poor, then His disciple should do that, for to become His True Loved Ones they should develop the Master’s own habits within themselves. Merely pretending to do His will has no effect, for He knows and sees everything.

So Bulleh Shah studied the art of the singing and dancing for nine months, and one evening he said to his teacher, Tonight, let me go and sing for the Master, instead of you. She agreed, giving him her clothes to wear, and with quickening heart he hurried off to the Master’s house. His songs even now are heart-rending to the reader, filed with the great sadness as he describes his separation from the Master. He Who knows everything can recognise a person by what he is, not by what he is wearing, and when Bulleh Shah sang with so much pain and feeling the Master could not help Himself, and, rushing from His seat, wrapped Bulleh Shah in His arms. Now many who were watching this began to wonder that such a Great Master would embrace a prostitute, so Shah Inayat said, Listen, brother Bulleh, take off this finery, that the peoples doubts may be removed.

How can you recapture the Master’s pleasure when He is displeased with you? And then, when He restores this blessing, what do you gain?

This hymn of Guru Arjun will disclose some knowledge on the subject:

“I fall at His feet to gain His favour. Oh, meet a Satguru Who is God Himself! There is no one else like Him.”

If the Guru is pleased, then so is God, for God has manifested Himself in the Guru. Satguru is the very image of the Truth, the ruling Power, for His will governs everything and there is no one comparable to Him in this world or the next.

“I have searched all Brahmand; but not found one like my Guru.”

A person can only speak of whatever level he has reached. The worldly will think on a worldly level, but they who have reached Brahman and beyond say that even in Brahman there is no one equal the Guru. He is Truth itself, and He is also the Pole at Which the Truth is manifested.