The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Paltu Sahib...
Bhajan athuri keejiye aur baath mein der,
Bhajan athuri keejiye aur baath mein der.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Paltu Sahib. As I have been saying before, Paltu Sahib was a Saint from Ayodhya. Paltu Sahib says, “You should hurry up and do your Bhajan. If at all there is something that you should be hurrying up and doing, it is your Bhajan.”
All Saints have been saying that it is the Bhajan Simran that is going to get us out of this world of karma. And it is only this Bhajan and Simran that is going to help us get out of this because we can get rid of our karmas, and the burden of karmas, only with Bhajan Simran. And that is how we can then go back to our True Home.
So, when the soul gets saddened as it moves into these 8.4 million life forms, the God Almighty takes pity and graces the soul that it should take the human birth and give salvation to it and get itself out of this ocean of karmas. Because this human body, which has been given, is the only body in which we can do our devotion and get out of this world and go back to our True Home.
In any other life form, this is not possible. Because all the other things, the normal livelihood that we undergo, whatever we do for filling up our stomachs, having our families and providing for our families, all this is done in other life forms also. Even insects provide for food. Even birds provide for food and look after their families. So, all these things can be done in all other life forms.
It is devotion that we can do in this human life form only. And if we lose this opportunity, this short opportunity that has been given by God Almighty to get salvation, then there is no bigger ignorant person than us. Because God Almighty resides within us and He has got His whole kingdom embodied within this human form. So, if we do not follow the Path of the Masters, and we do not follow Their Teachings and go back and meet God Almighty, then everything else that we are doing is wasteful. There is no point in doing any other thing.
Those people, who do not do their devotion in this lifetime, and those who are constantly in thoughts of worldly matters and they are constantly tied up in these worldly pursuits, such people at the time of death have a great deal of repentance, because they have not achieved anything in this lifetime. Because all these attachments that we think are ours, at the time of death we realize that we have to leave all these things, which we so dearly felt belonged to us. That is the time we feel betrayed. We feel all that we have done is all a waste.
So, Saints, therefore, caution us. And Paltu Sahib says, therefore, “You should do devotion in a hurry. If there is anything that you have to be doing in a hurry, that is devotion. Everything else can stand by.”
Aur baath mein der jagath mein jeevan thora,
Aur baath mein der jagath mein jeevan thora,
Maanush tan dhan jaath ghod ghari karo nihoraa.
Why does Paltu Sahib say this? He says this because the life form that has been given to us is very short-lived. And we have come here with a very limited number of breaths that we can take. And we never know when these breaths will stop.
Kabir Sahib also says in this context, “What you have to do tomorrow, you should do today. And what you have to do today, you should do now.” Because we never know when that breath is going to stop and when our life will end.
When we have come into this life, we have got few limited breaths that we can take as per our Pralabdh karmas, and we have the right to take that many breaths only. And once that number of breaths is used up, then we have to vacate this house, this body, that we have.
So, Saints say that this life has been given to you to get out of your sorrow, to do your devotion and go to God Almighty. What we have today is what we have in our hand. What is there tomorrow is in the hand of Kal. So, therefore, Saints, whenever They do Their meditation and Dhyan Bhajan, They always keep Kal in mind. They know that Kal is at the doorstep and he can pull out the life form at any time. And, therefore, They keep that feeling foremost and They do Their meditation.
Kabir Sahib also says, “Kal is sitting on your head. Your head is held by him, so don't indulge in your egos. Because whenever he wishes he can pull up your head and pull you out of this life.”
So, it is only with good fortune that has come from millions of our previous lives that we have got this life form. And it is with the Grace of God Almighty that we have the company of the Masters. So we, therefore, are blessed with this life form and we have the company of the Masters also. It is our duty, therefore, to follow the Teachings of the Master and go towards our True Home.
With the Simran and Bhajan that we do, we also cut off a lot of karmas, a lot of burden of karmas, that we carry with us. And, if we don't do this, then we have to suffer these karmas on our body. So, by doing Simran Bhajan, the burden of such karmas also gets reduced.
Those devotees who sit for two and a half hours meditation every day, they are constantly in touch with their Masters. And their Masters are constantly in touch with them. And such devotees, even before their death, they are well informed by the Masters when their time shall come to an end in this life form.
So, therefore, we should not ignore and make light of our meditation. We should do it. We should always prioritize our meditation and make that the first actionable plan every day. And then everything else should follow.
Kaanche mahal ke beech pavan ik panchi rahatha,
Kaanche mahal ke beech pavan ik panchi rahatha,
Das darvaaja khula udan ko nith ut chahatha.
Paltu Sahib explains how our life is. He explains that this is like a house with nine doors and there is a bird within. And that bird constantly is trying to go out of the nine doors that are there in this house. So, it is the bird that is like the breaths that are taken. The breath is in the form of a bird, which is always eager to leave this house of nine doors.
Sant Ji also, before He left His sharir, had written a Bani and He had left it below His pillow. And it said, “Who is saying that I am going to die? I am going to leave this house.” He said, “I am going to go to the house of Kirpal.” And Saints are always very happy to leave this life form and go back to Their True Home and to Their Masters. So, like the Masters, even those devotees who do a lot of devotion, they are also very happy at the time of leaving this body. And it is equal to the happiness that a young man has at the time of his marriage.
Because, when we do our meditation and we do our devotion, then we are no longer attached to all these worldly things around us. And because we do not have these attachments at the time of death, we go in great happiness and we are ecstatic to meet our Masters inside.
Bhaj leeje bhagwan ehi mein bhal hai apana,
Bhaj leeje bhagwan ehi mein bhal hai apana,
Avaagavan chut jaay janam ki mitein kalpana.
So, therefore, He says, “You should do your Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran, and you should do your devotion of God Almighty. And, once you leave this world, then you will not come back into this life again, into this world of sorrow.” He says that you have to do this because, currently, our mind takes us outside through all the worldly pursuits. And, by doing Simran and Dhyan, the soul goes within and, with the mind, gets connected to the Sound Current, which resonates at the back of the Eye Center and the Master’s Form gets manifested within.
Once the mind gets to see that and gets connected with the Sound Current, it gets so intoxicated that the desires and other pleasures of the world, which have been taking it outwards, completely stop. And it starts going within to constantly listen to the resonating Sound Current and see the Form of the Master within.
Because the mind always and constantly wants its taste fulfilled, and there is nothing more tasteful, and nothing more ecstatic, than going within and listening to the Sound Current and seeing the Radiant Form of the Master within. So, the mind constantly is behind these desires and it wants more and more satisfaction from all of these things. So, what gives it the maximum satisfaction is when it gets connected with the Sound Current and sees the Master within because there is nothing in these three worlds, which is as intoxicating and gives as much pleasure as the Sound Current. And, once the mind gets connected with the Sound Current, there is nothing in these three worlds to hold it back. And then, it rides on the Sound Current and goes upwards to Brahm.
So, Masters say, “You may try thousands and crores of measures to control your mind. But your mind will never get controlled. The only way the mind gets controlled is when it gets connected with the Sound Current.”
So, even the yogis and the munis have tried a lot to control their minds and, with their austerities, they have managed to get mystic powers. But, these mystic powers are still within the realm of the mind. So, they have never been able to control the mind. With such mystic powers and under the influence of the mind, they curse people and they bless people. So, all these things are all inside the realm of the mind.
Even Somanath Baba Ji had all these mystic powers and He had also done a lot of austerities. But He got His true inner peace and he was able to control His mind after He met and got the Grace of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj.
Even Sant Ji, Ajaib Singh Ji, had been initiated by Baba Bishan Das into two Shabds, and He did a lot of penances for almost fifteen to eighteen years. He did this and He also had a lot of mystic powers. But inner peace was still not there, and He got that only when He got the Grace of Master Kirpal Singh Ji.
With such practices that we do outwards we can get mystic powers, but we cannot transcend the mind. We are still within the realm of the mind. And, therefore, because we are within the realm of the mind, we do not have inner peace, because the mind has come from Brahm. And all the three worlds below that are within the realm of the mind. So, all these outside practices that we do are all within the realm of the mind.
Until and unless we get the Grace of the Masters and we are able to go beyond the mind, go beyond Brahm, or to Par Brahm and above, can we get the true peace and the love within. Without the Grace of the Masters, we cannot leave the compound of Kal and we cannot go beyond the mind.
Palatu atak na keejiye chourasi ghar pher,
Palatu atak na keejiye chourasi ghar pher,
Bhajan athuri keejiye aur baath mein der.
Paltu Sahib says, “Do not get stuck up in the love and attachments of this world, because these will keep you entangled here, and you will not be able to go to your True Home.” So, it is only the attachment that keeps us in this world. It is because of our attachment to these worldly things that we are unable to come out of this world and go to our True Home. Even if we have the slightest attachment here, we will have to come back, take a birth, and come back to this world. So, it is only when we are completely detached from this that we can leave this world. And to get detached we need to do our Simran and Bhajan. And with as much Simran and Bhajan that we do, our devotion at the Feet of the Master will increase that much and we will be able to get detached from this world.
There are so many people who do their devotion of God Almighty and their Masters, who are staying quite away from the normal attachments, and they are isolated. But, even then, they are getting that nourishment, they are getting their food, and they are being taken care of by God Almighty.
So, we have to work towards getting detached from this world, to go within and back to our True Home. If we are attached to these worldly matters, then we are unable to do our Simran Bhajan and our devotion, because these become impediments for our devotion to our Masters and God Almighty.
In Nizamabad, that's about seven hundred kilometers from our ashram, there were three devotees who had come. And considering that if you have some disturbance at your home and you find it difficult to stay in your home, then you start going to the Master’s ashram. These three people apparently had some troubles in their households, and they came to me and they said that they want to sit for meditation. So, I said, “That is a very good thing. You should sit for meditation.” So, I asked them to sit in the hall inside for their meditation.
Now, these people were constantly attached to their children, their families, and all of their other things. So, when they sat for meditation also, all these things kept coming back to them, their children, their families, their wives and all of that. These thoughts kept disturbing them because these people had never sat for meditation or had done any devotion earlier. They had been constantly fighting at home and doing all sorts of things. So, when they were asked to sit, they found it very difficult to sit for meditation.
After some time, they came to me and said, “Okay, we can't sit continuously for meditation. What we will do is, we will work one hour, then we will sit again for meditation for one hour. That way, we’ll alternate.”
So, I told them, “Fine, that is okay. Do that.”
So, that way then, after one hour, they would go out and they would cut grass near the papita trees that we had. And, then again, all the three would sit together and they would talk about their families there. They would talk about their families for one hour, then come back, sit again in meditation, again go back and cut grass and, again, talk about their families. So, constantly, they were in the thought of their families. And it was only on the second day that they came back to me and said, “I have this thing pending and I have that thing pending at home. I think we’ll just complete that, and then we will come.”
So, it was on the second day that the mind became so strong that it wanted to go back to its house. The three came to me and said that they have got lots of things pending and they would like to finish that and then come back.
I told them that the bhandara was just about fifteen days away. And, in fact, people from Nizamabad take a bus, hire a bus, and they come for the bhandara. So, why don't you sit for meditation for fifteen days, and even if you can't do meditation then, never mind, you just do seva for fifteen days and attend the bhandara and then go back to your house?
But, they said, “No, no, we'll do one thing. We’ll finish that and come back.” And the mind became very strong and it came to a point, when I went to the field, they didn't even tell me, and they all backed off and ran away.
So, doing meditation is not a very easy thing. It is difficult. But, by doing Simran, what happens is that, over a period of time, the mind becomes purer and we are able to do that devotion gradually.
Yahi samay guru paay mein gotha leejai khaay,
Yahi samay guru paay mein gotha leejai khaay.
Paltu Sahib, in the second stanza of His Bani, says, “You should use this lifetime to do your devotion, because if the soul gets out of this life form and goes into another body, then it will not be able to do this devotion.” So, Saints awaken us and They tell us that we should do our devotion. We should do our devotion and make some sense of this life, fulfill the purpose of this life that we have come for.
Gothaa leejai khaay naam ke sarvar maahi,
Gothaa leejai khaay naam ke sarvar maahi,
Avadhi aay nagichaan daav phir aisa naahi.
Paltu Sahib says, “Take the dip in the Ocean of Naam. Life is moving at such a fast pace that you will not get opportunities again.”
In Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj’s time, there was a stationmaster called Bua Dass. And, initially, when people would come, he used to keep shouting at them and saying, “Why are you coming here. Why are you coming to visit Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj?” So, he was a stationmaster there and the devotees would come and they would carry their luggage, and there weren't so many means of transport. When people would carry their heavy luggage all the way to the ashram, either it would have to be pushed or carted, or people would actually carry it themselves. And seeing this kind of trouble, which people were taking to go to the ashram, he used to get quite annoyed, thinking why are people wasting so much effort and energies going there and going through so much hardship? So, that way, he used to get annoyed at those people going.
But once, out of curiosity, he also went to the ashram to see why so many people were coming there, and they were willing to take all that kind of hardship to come to listen to Satsang. So, he came and he sat for the Satsang of Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. And that Satsang really hit him. It transformed him. And after that, he came for the next two, three days also and heard Satsang and, eventually, took Naam initiation. And then, when his duties were not there at the station and people were coming with their bags, he would actually help them. He would lift their bags and take them to the ashram.
So once, what happened was, one devotee came with a lot of baggage. It was afternoon time in summer. It was quite hot in the scorching sun there. This person thought that he was a coolie or a laborer there. He gave the stationmaster the bags and he put those bags on his head. The distance between the station to the ashram was about three kilometers and, with great difficulty, he carried those bags and he was sweating a lot.
Now, during the same time, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj came out on the terrace. And it was scorchingly hot and He took rounds on the terrace.
Bibi Lajo asked Him, “Why are you walking in the sun?”
He said, “No, no, I'm feeling cold. That's why I'm walking in the sun.”
So, when the two arrived at the ashram, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj went inside and He gave them Darshan. And then, He told that devotee, “Look, he is not a laborer. He is the stationmaster.” And He saw that so much transformation had happened in this person.
So, this devotee then felt embarrassed giving so much luggage to such a senior officer. So, everyone came to know of Bua Dass. He was a great devotee.
Once, it so happened that, he used to do a lot of Simran and, for an evening walk, when he set out for a stroll, he started doing his Simran, and doing the Simran, he kept walking. From Beas, he kept walking and he reached Jalandhar City, which is over ten to twelve kilometers. It is quite a distance from Beas. So, he kept walking and he was doing his Simran all the time. He did not realize that he had walked so much.
When he saw the lights of the city and it looked quite different, then he asked a person, “What is this place?”
So, he told Bua Dass, “Look, this is Jalandhar City. Where have you come from?” He said, “I came from Beas.”
He said, “It's quite late.” Because, in evening he had set out for a walk, and it was quite late in the night by the time he had reached Jalandhar City. So, he said, “There will be no buses now for going back. You'll have to wait here.”
He said, “No, I have come walking, so I will go back walking.” So, he again did his Simran and walked back to Beas.
So, he was a great devotee, and when he did his Simran, he completely lost all attention of his body, and he would keep walking like that while doing Simran.
Once during bhandara, he had come to Beas Ashram. After the Satsang, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj told him to take the mic. Then, Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj told him to speak out in the mic and tell how he could control his mind. So, He said, “You tell all the sangat, which is sitting, how you got control of your mind.”
So, Bua Dass spoke, and he told everybody that after his duties, around five o'clock, when he would return home, his servant would cook his food. And he would tell the servant, “You cook the food and keep it in a plate and leave it. And then you can carry on and you go home.”
And after that, when he would go home, he would have a bath and sit for meditation and he would tell his mind, “If you go within and you do Simran properly, and I get the intoxication of Naam within, only then I will allow you to eat food. Otherwise, I will not give you food.” And, that way, he would sit for meditation with a plate kept aside.
And sometimes, the mind would not listen and he would not get his attention focused, and it would be unfocused until maybe 6:00 AM. Even then, the mind would not be controlled. So, he would be sitting for meditation right from five o'clock trying to meditate and trying to do his Simran and meditation and, right up to six o'clock, the mind would not listen.
And in such times he would give that food away to cattle and he would not eat any food. Sometimes, the mind would listen; he would get the intoxication of Naam within. It would be 3:00 AM, then he would eat his food at 3:00 AM. If it were 5:00 AM, he would eat at 5:00 AM. Or at twelve midnight, he would eat at twelve midnight.
So, that way, he always fought this war with his mind every day. And he said, “I fought this war with my mind for one full year, and only after that, I was able to control the mind.”
So, he said, “It took me one year to control my mind like this. And now I go within and I can hear the Sound Current within. And now I'm not fearful of the mind and I have won that war.”
Manush tan sankraath mahodadhi jaath siraani,
Manush tan sankraath mahodadhi jaath siraani,
Aisi parabi paaye nahi tum mahima jaani.
Paltu Sahib says that such a priceless life form has been given to you. It is like the nectar being given to you. It is more valuable than the most expensive jewel and we are frittering away this life form by wasting it in the worries of this world. And we should have got intoxicated in that Naam within. We should have had the nectar of the Naam within, but instead, we have been wasting our time in the worries of this world. And nobody has ever in this world got the intoxication of Naam from being able to satisfy those worries. So, you should have used this life form for going within and getting intoxicated in the Naam.
Therefore, the Masters say, “Nectar has been kept for us at the Tenth Door at the back of our Eye Center. Till we go there and drink that nectar, our mind is not going to get controlled, because we are in this constant cycle where the mind is pursuing its desires. It is lost in the thoughts of this world. And it is because of these attachments and these thoughts that we, time and again, come back into this world and we are in this constant cycle.”
So, the obstacle here is the mind. If we are able to control it, it takes us outside of this cycle. Otherwise, it constantly brings us back into these attachments and back into this cycle of sorrow.
This was also explained to Bulleh Shah by Inaayat Shah. Bulleh Shah was a very learned soul and he was very highly educated. And when Bulleh Shah came to meet Inaayat Shah, He was planting onions.
So, Bulleh Shah had read all the Scriptures. He had read the Koran and all of the other holy books. And he came to Inaayat Shah and asked Him that he wanted to meet God Almighty. He wanted peace within.
Inaayat Shah at that time was taking out the onions from a nursery and planting them. So, He said, “What ‘peace’ are you saying? What is the thing you are asking? It’s simple. You just take this onion from here, and you plant it there.”
So, Bulleh Shah told him, “No, I do not understand. I have read so many Scriptures, and despite reading so much text, I have not understood it. And you are telling me it is as simple as taking out a sapling from here and planting it there.”
Then, Inayat Shah explained to him, “Like your mind is now chasing its desires and chasing the world, you have to take out this attention and simply plant it for the love and devotion of God Almighty. And then you'll automatically have your work done.”
So, it is as simple as taking out your attention from worldly matters and putting it into spirituality, in pursuits of your Master and God Almighty.
It is most often that illiterate people get more success on this Path than literate people because they follow the simple instructions of the Master.
Satsangath ke ghaat pait ke kar asanaana,
Satsangath ke ghaat pait ke kar asanaana,
Tan man deejai daan bahuri nahi auna jaana.
Paltu Sahib says, “Sit in the Satsang and cleanse your body and mind with the water of Satsang.” And it is only in the Satsang that we come to know of the Reality of the Path. And we get set on the Path because of the motivation we get in the Satsang. So, when we come to know the Reality, we follow that Reality. And that Reality is shown to us in a Satsang.
Palatu bilam na keejiye aisa ausar pay,
Palatu bilam na keejiye aisa ausar pay,
Yahi samay guru paay mein gothaa leejein khaay.
Paltu Sahib says, “Make haste. Don't waste your time. This opportunity that has come to you. Make the most of it. Such opportunities will not keep coming.” So, use this opportunity and take the dip in Satsang. And, with Satsang, follow the Teachings of the Master and do your Bhajan Simran. Because, if we sit in Satsang and keep listening to Satsangs, but don't follow what is said there, then we can spend many lifetimes like that.
You have to listen to the Satsang and follow the Teachings of the Master. Sant Mat is a Path of doing things. It is not a path of only talking. So, those people who do it, who follow the Teachings of the Master and carry that out in their life, only such people get the Grace of the Master.
Therefore, we should sit in the Satsang, listen to Satsang and think. And when we have been shown the Reality and we believe that Path, then we should follow that Path. So, we should make use of this life form that we have been given because, if this passes away, then we will not be able to do our devotion in any other life form.
All the other life forms are akin to the night. Only this human form is like the day. So, we should make use of this day. In the other life forms, you are unable to think. It is the faculty of thinking, it is the element of ether that is there, which is there only in the human form that enables you to think. And that is why we should use this life form.
Palatu bilam na keejiye aisa ausar pay,
Palatu bilam na keejiye aisa ausar pay,
Yahi samay guru paay mein gothaa leejein khaay.
Radhaswami.