To gain His Pleasure

III

When two hearts take joy in the same thing, most decidedly they will love each other. If one likes to serve the poor and do meditation, the other should do the same, and without any effort love will grow between them.

Maulana Rumi has said,

He who approaches you, approaches God; and he who departs from you, goes away from God.

Uttering empty words will be futile, for saying one thing and doing something else may hoodwink the world, but no one can deceive the Guru. My Master used to say that the Guru-Power is all awareness and if a soul is not fit he will not be given the Inner Road. There should be nothing left of the mind or senses.

Guru Arjan, Whose hymn I am now taking, was tested very severally by His Guru. The Masters test the disciples again and again to see how much loving devotion he has, and to what extend he still remains under the influence of mind. He who sacrifices everything for the sake of his Guru has achieved all.

During the strife-worn days of Guru Gobind Singh, a certain man named Nabi Khan Ali Khan was killed, and someone went to inform his wife of her husband’s death.

On hearing the news, her first words were,

Is my Guru all right?

For a True Disciple, the Master is most beloved than any other relationship, for it is one of the soul with God. Naturally the child who heeds his father’s slightest wish will enjoy his pleasure. Whoever insists on his own ideas and does not want to obey, doubtless he will also get the Master’s Love, but the Inner Key will not be entrusted to him.

I will now tell you how Arjan won His Master’s pleasure.

It happened that one of the relatives of Guru Ram Das Ji – Guru Arjan’s Master – was getting married in Lahore, but the Guru Himself was in Amritsar at the time. So He sent for His eldest son, Prithi Chand, and told him to go to Lahore and spent about fifteen days there, over the wedding.

When these highly enlightened personalities come, They are always surrounded by the people who either want Their money, or wish to be their successor.

In reply to his father’s orders Prithi Chand protested, If I go there, who will look after everything here? He was afraid that his father would give the succession to Guru Arjan, who was most beloved of the Master, and so he refused to obey. The other son of Guru Ram Das was Maha Dev who was usually in a spirituality intoxicated state, so the Guru sent for Arjan Sahib and told him to attend the wedding instead of Prithi Chand, and then instructed him, Do not return here until I send for you.

Guru Arjan took the Master’s orders without question and left for Lahore. A person of lesser Spiritual Strength would have ignored the order and declared that out of Love for the Master they had to return, but for Guru Arjan his Master’s orders were of supreme importance, making a barrier between the Master and himself which he would never think of surpassing.

Remember, he who obeys orders will achieve success in his goal.

Many days passed and there was no word, so Guru Arjan wrote these words and sent them to the Master:

My mind is desiring Thy darshan; like the rainbird in anguish, the thirst remains unquenched – there is no peace; I am living that without the Beloved’s darshan.

He sent these words to his Master by a man, but the man gave the note to the Master’s son Prithi Chand, and therefore it never reached the Master’s hands. What a dying man does not do in desperation! He wrote another letter. From Lahore to Amritsar it is only thirty miles, but he could not go there because of his Master’s orders.

Remember, he who breaks the wall of the Guru’s order will never realise the Inner Knowledge. He may get a little Inner Experience and help, but he will never become perfect.

So in the second letter he wrote:

Glory be to the place where You reside; Your face is so beautiful, seeing this, the Inner Sound easily vibrates.

This letter also got into Prithi Chand’s hands and again there was no reply. He then sent a third letter, which he marked with a number 3. In this he wrote:

The separation of minutes was likened to an age; oh Beloved, when will that time be when I may see You? I cannot sleep, and the nights cannot pass without One Who is my Lord.

When this letter arrived, fortunately Prithi Chand was not there at the time and the Guru Sahib received it.

Though the Masters know everything, They do not disclose what They know, but allow things to come out openly of their own accord on the material level. Forgive me, but we frequently consider our Guru to be less than a man.

The Guru Sahib called Prithi Chand and asked him about the two previous letters, but Prithi Chand replied, Maharaj, do you think that I am a thief? The Master gave him a hard look, and turning to another man said, Go and look in the pockets of his clothes. He then sent for Guru Arjan Sahib, and when he arrived, told him, You wrote me three letters, and whoever will complete that poem will be my successor.

When a test comes, a simple thing becomes difficult. I remember that I also sometimes wrote poems to my Master – through separation the thoughts would come, and the poems were written. Some rivals started copying me, but always there is a difference between wine and water.

Guru Arjan wrote the fourth stanza thus:

With great destiny I met Him; the Ever-Permanent Lord was found in the house; I desire only to serve, and never be separated for a moment; I am Thy servant, oh Lord.

This shows the kind of respect the disciples should have for his Master. 

I once wrote to my Master and requested Him to give me the ability to love, but only that kind of Love which does not transcend the limits of respect. The Master was in Dalhousie when He received it, and after reading the letter He placed it on His heart and said with such humility,

I really appreciate such-like Love.

A devoted one’s poem is written to gain his Master’s pleasure. Guru Arjan was one of those rare devotees who truly achieved this, and at the end of this hymn He indicates what is gained by it.