The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Kabir Sahib...
Hum tumiro simiran kare
Tum mohee chitavat naahi,
Hum tumiro simiran kare
Tum mohee chitavat naahi,
Sumiran man ki preeth hai,
Tho man sumiri naahi.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Kabir Sahib. In this Bani, Kabir Sahib has taken the topic of Simran. Simran is the first block on the Path of spirituality and on Sant Mat. If we do our Simran, and as we continue to do a lot of Simran, the mind becomes pure. Unless we do enough Simran, we are not able to manifest the Form of the Master within.
What typically happens then is that, when we are doing Simran and we are trying to manifest the Form of the Master, when we try to visualize or we try to see the Form of the Master, that form keeps coming and going. That is because our mind is impure and our mind is not still. When we do enough Simran, then the Simran starts happening automatically within us. And that is the time the mind gets still. And that is the time the Form of the Master that we see within stays for a while, and we can easily see that Form of the Master within.
The Master is always residing within us at the back of the Eye Center and, though He is always residing there, we are unable to see Him. That is because our mind is impure and it is not still.
So, we should, therefore, do the Simran of the Five Naams that have been given to us during initiation. And we should constantly keep our attention and focus on the Simran while we are doing it. And, that way, we can improve our Simran and focus our attention within. So, we should focus our attention on Simran and keep doing our Simran and, as soon as the mind becomes pure and still, we will automatically see the Radiant Form of the Master within.
Kabir Sahib says, "The God Almighty resides within you. The Master resides within you. But, instead of focusing your attention on Him, you are focusing your attention on outwardly desires and the world.” Then, how is it possible that you will go and meet Him?
So, God Almighty and the Masters are constantly thinking about us. But, we are not thinking about Them. So, it is important that, when we start thinking about Them, that is when we will be able to go and meet Them. The mind, which is an impediment, is not in our control. And if that comes under our control, then we will be able to go and see Him.
Kabira hari hari sumir le
Pran jayenge chooti.
Kabira hari hari sumir le
Pran jayenge chooti.
Ghar ke pyaare aadmi
Jag se lenge looti.
Kabir Sahib cautions us. We are constantly doing simran of outwardly desires of the world around us and we are not doing the Simran of the Five Names given to us to go within. Kabir Sahib cautions us that we never know when our time will come to an end, and we will not be able to do the Simran after that. So, this is the time to do Simran.
The family members, whom we so dearly love all our lifetime, when our breath comes to an end and we are about to die, these same family members first take out all the ornaments that are being worn by the person who is dying. And they are more concerned about what kind of debts he has to others, what kind of wealth he has, and they are more concerned about taking those keys of the lockers, and all of that. So, it is these same people, whom he has so dearly loved throughout his life. These family members cannot protect the person who is dying. The only person who can protect that soul, which is going to pass, is his Master.
So, the Master, Who has given the initiation to the soul, that Master comes at the time of death, and then, inside only, He guides the soul within and takes the soul to higher planes.
The Master doesn't allow the soul to go out from any of the outward nine doors. When the soul goes out of those nine doors, it goes back into the 8.4 million life forms. So, when the Master comes, He takes the soul out from the Tenth Door only.
All the planes are connected within and the Path is within us only. So, after death, the Master guides the soul inwardly on the Path and takes it upwards into the higher planes.
Now, depending on what kind of meditation that soul has done, or how much love and affection and devotion that soul has for his Master, the Master will, accordingly, take him to that kind of higher plane where he will then practice further.
At the time of death, in normal circumstances, the agents of death come. They do not come from outside, they come from within only. To the right side is the Path upwards to the higher planes, and to the left side is the path towards hell. And these agents of death come. They keep tapping the soul to wake up and to come back. And then, they take that soul to the left side. So, these agents of death come and they tap the soul and they tell that soul to vacate this place. They all come from the left side. And, after that, they take the soul also to the left side. When they take the soul to the left side, Kal is waiting there. And, then the soul is chewed by Kal. And, only after Kal chews that soul, their life comes to an end.
It is the curse of God Almighty to Kal that he has to chew one hundred thousand life forms every day. So, this is a curse given by the God Almighty to Kal. When Kal chews the soul, there is a lot of pain and the soul trembles inside. And this is all before the soul leaves the body and before, as we say, one is dead. So, there is a lot of suffering at that time. After Kal chews the soul, then the agents of death take that soul up for redeeming its karmas.
This is also written in the Anurag Sagar, and Sant Ji has also referred to it on several occasions. So, this is preordained. Everyone has to go through this process, where Kal chews that soul.
The satsangis are not put through this suffering. When a satsangi dies, even if he has not done a lot of meditation, his soul will come up through the six chakras and come to the Tenth Door. And there, on the right side, there is the Master standing. On the left side, there is Kal standing. And there They decide who that soul will go with. So, if it is a satsangi, then the Master takes the satsangi with Him to higher planes. If he has not been initiated, then Kal takes this soul and then he chews the soul.
This is a very regular process for a satsangi. The soul immediately withdraws at the time of death, and then there is this decision that is taken when he comes to the Tenth Door.
Kabir nirbhay naam jap
Jap lag jeeva baath.
Kabir nirbhay naam jap
Jap lag jeeva baath.
Tel gate baathi buje,
Tab sove din raathi.
Kabir Sahib says, “A very nice opportunity has been given to you. Now, you should fearlessly do your meditation, do your Simran. This life, which has been given to you, is a life for you to get out of this ocean of life, this ocean of suffering.” So, if we lose this opportunity, then we will go back into the 8.4 million life forms and, again, into the cycle of life and death. And we never know when we will get such a nice opportunity again.
So, Kabir Sahib cautions that such a beautiful opportunity has been given to you. You should make use of this opportunity and do your devotion to the God Almighty and do your Simran because once the oil of the lamp is gone, the light goes out. Then you will be able to sleep forever after that. So, you should take this opportunity, when there is life and when you are alive, to do your devotion to God Almighty.
Oftentimes, all the satsangis also are not focusing and spending their time doing Simran and devotion. It is very important for us to do this. Otherwise, though we are satsangis, we spend this very precious time in our life in our worldly affairs, desires, luxuries, and all of the other things. Instead, we should focus on Simran and we should focus on the devotion of the God Almighty because this is a very precious opportunity that has been given to all of us.
I often relate the story of Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj. He spent a lot of years trying to get a True Living Master and he was in search for over ten years. And, finally, he came to Swami Ji Maharaj. When he met Swami Ji Maharaj, after that, he pleaded with Him that he should stay and continue in the ashram and do his meditation there. But, Swami Ji Maharaj advised him to go back and, while doing his duty, he should do his Simran and his devotion.
Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj used to do his work for the army. And in those days of the British Empire, they used to take a lot of service from the military and these people. The hours of duty were over twelve hours. And after doing his duty, when he would come back for rest in the evening, after all his friends, associates, had gone to sleep, he would sit in a trench he had dug for doing his meditation.
So, after he retired from service, when he went back, Swami Ji Maharaj asked him to go back to Punjab, because he had come from there. He was given a Guru Granth Sahib and he went to the river Beas and he did his practice from there. Bibi Rukko had been asked to go and help him and do seva for him, but Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj told her that she should also do her meditation.
What they would often do is get this wheat flour, and then they would make rotis out of about five kilograms of wheat flour at a time. And these rotis would all be made at one time. Then they would hang these rotis up on a string so that they would dry and, later, whenever they had to eat it, they would dip it in salt water and eat. And, that way, they would spend as much time as possible to do their meditation and Simran.
So, his life is very encouraging for all of us satsangis. Because, after he retired, when he got his pension funds also, he lived the simple life and focused on his meditation and Simran. He would go and collect his pension on a monthly basis, and then buy this flour and get the rotis made, and spend most of his time doing meditation. He never tried to use that money for spending on some desires of his and some other luxuries. But, instead, he lived a very, very simple life and focused on his meditation and Simran.
So, that is an ideal that we have as a satsangi. Despite the fact that he had wealth, he lived an austere life and focused on his meditation, and on the devotion of the Lord Almighty and his Master.
If we look at the example of Sant Ji, when he was doing his duty in the army, he was forever in the remembrance of God Almighty. And, after he retired also, when he set up in his place, Kirpal Singh Ji came and asked him to go underground to meditate. If we have gone and seen that place where he used to meditate underground, there was a simple wooden platform and an earthen vessel. He did not even get a mattress to be kept on that wooden platform, because that would then encourage him to go to sleep. So, he went through all these measures to do his meditation and be in the remembrance of God Almighty and his Master.
Saints have spent such difficult times in the remembrance of Their Masters and God Almighty. Now, if we look at our lives, all that the Masters are asking us to do is to sit for about two and a half hours to three hours of meditation in our own homes with our own families, doing everything else that we are doing. But, despite that, you will see that we are not doing that. So, tell me, how much do we really love our Masters? How much do we really want to meet God Almighty?
So, Kabir Sahib cautions us, “As long as there is this breath that you are taking, as long as this lamp is lit, you should do your meditation. Once the oil of the lamp goes away, once your breath stops, then you will be sleeping perennially. There will be no one coming to wake you up.”
Jaisa maaya man rame,
Taise naam ramaaye.
Jaisa maaya man raame,
Taise naam ramaaye.
Taara mandal chadike
Jaha naam taha jaaye.
Kabir Sahib says, “Like your mind is now manifested in the world outside, with its desires, its wants, and all the other things that are outside, if it focuses its attention within and manifests the Master within, then it will go back to where it has come from.” So, Masters awaken the soul and They say, “This world in which you are living, this world of joy and sorrow, this is not your world. Your world is Sach Khand-Sat Lok from where you have come.” Masters awaken us and tell us that, “Do your meditation. Do the devotion of God Almighty. Make your effort and with the Grace of the Master, with all this, you will be able to go back to God Almighty.”
Kabir chit chanchal bhaya,
Chau dis laagi laaye.
Kabir chit chanchal bhaya,
Chau dis laagi laaye.
Guru simiran aathe gada
Neeje vegi bujaaye.
Kabir Sahib says, “Your mind is very turbulent. You are being pulled in all directions and your mind is forever wavering, pursuing its desires and all outwardly things that draw it out.” So, there is a fire in the mind. And this fire is everywhere that we look, in all the desires and all the pursuits of the mind. So, Kabir Sahib says, “Take the water of Simran and quench the mind and douse this fire of the outwardly pull of the mind.” Because the mind is being pulled by these desires and it is forever wavering. It has gathered a lot of filth. With Simran this filth will be removed, the mind will become pure, and it will get the soothing water of Simran.
So, Kabir Sahib says, “You want happiness and you want peace. This happiness and peace will come to you only with Simran. It is Simran alone that can give you the happiness and give you peace because, with the help of Simran, the mind will become purer and you will be able to go back to your True Home and God Almighty.” If we do not do Simran then, aside from spirituality, the karmas that we have brought in here and which we have to redeem in this life, those keep building up, and then we have to suffer those karmas on our body.
So, near Guddella, there was a devotee. He was an initiate of Somanath Baba Ji. But, he used to speak a lot of lies. He always used to use lies to fool people. He had this book of mantras once and, what he used to do was, he had a small boy as his assistant. And they would take these lemons and at different places, wherever he would go, he would hide this lemon. And when everybody had some ailment or the other, and when they would come to him, he would say, “Someone has done some mantra on you, and he has cast a spell on you. He has this lemon put against you. So, if you give me two or three thousand rupees, then I will get the necessary materials and I will break this spell.” And then, wherever these lemons were buried, he would have his assistant take them out and show that this spell had been cast on that person.
People in the village within about a ten, eleven-kilometer radius knew about all these traits of this person, so they did not get fooled by him. So, what he used to do was, go far away, about forty, fifty kilometers away to different villages, and then he would do these things there. So, this man built up so many karmas. He used to fool people.
Now, this worked for about seven, eight years. But, in the process of the lies that he would tell, what people he would fool and the karmas that he would build up, what happened was, after about nearly nine years, he got an attack of paralysis. And his body, downwards from his hip, was completely paralyzed. His body organs were functioning, but his legs and his lower body were completely paralyzed and he had no control. So, he had to lie down, and then only his wife had to take care of him.
Gradually, all the family members left him, because it was too cumbersome to handle him. And his wife also would curse him. So, he had to literally suffer hell and he was alive for about eight to nine years like this.
So, therefore, one should not accumulate the karmas. And in earlier yugas, the karmas that were built up would have to be taken care of in later lives also. But now, in Kali Yuga, the karmas that we build, we have to suffer those karmas also in this life. So, though he was a satsangi, he had to undergo that hell while he lived. And, because he was a satsangi, he would get another human birth, as he had never done any meditation and he had not spent any time in the remembrance of his Master or God Almighty. So, the karmas that he built up had to be cleaned out, and then he would be given a human birth after that.
So, therefore, the mind is burning in all these desires. And it is only Simran that can douse this fire of the mind.
Kabir mukh soyee bhala
Ja mukh nikse naam.
Kabir mukh soyee bhala
Ja mukh nikse naam.
Jaa mukh naam na nikse,
So mukh koune kaam.
Kabir Sahib says, “The mouth from which we do Simran and we remember God Almighty and do His devotion, that is a mouth which is being properly used. There is no use having a mouth that does not recite the Simran and does not do the devotion of God Almighty.”
Satnaam ko sumirana
Has kar bhaave keeje.
Satnaam ko sumirana
Has kar bhaave keeje.
Ulta sulta nipaje
Khet pada jo bheej.
Kabir Sahib says, “In whatever context you do Simran, whether you do it in anger, or you do it with love, or you do it pleasantly or otherwise, it will always bear fruit. It will always serve the purpose.”
It is like a farmer putting seeds in his field. If he throws the seeds, some seeds will fall straight, some may fall in rivers or inverted, but ultimately all will grow and the plants will come up. So, no Simran is wasted. In whatever form we do it, or however we do it, even in our dreams, when we do Simran, it is to the account of the devotee. So, Simran is never wasted.
Swas safal so jaaniye,
Jo sumiran mein jaaye.
Swas safal so jaaniye,
Jo sumiran mein jaaye.
Aur swas yohi gaye,
Kari kari bahuth upaaye.
Kabir Sahib says, “The breath we take while doing the devotion of God Almighty and while we do Simran, that is the only successful breath that we have taken. All the other breaths that we have taken during the lifetime are a waste.”
We forever go about our lives doing several things, and we feel 'this is our work', ‘this is our family’. And we are spending time for that, for everything that we believe belongs to us and what is ours.
But, Kabir Sahib says, “This is not right, because all this work that you are doing is for others. The only true work that you do for yourself is for the upliftment and salvation of your soul.”
So, the only work that we do towards our devotion of God Almighty, that of Simran, Dhyan Bhajan, that is the only true work that we are doing for ourselves. All the other work that we have done, our livelihood, family, everything else, that is all going to be left here. And that only goes towards redeeming the karmas or the building up of new karmas before we leave here.
There was this prostitute called Ganika. And, throughout her life, she had lived a very bad life in prostitution. And, as such, she was unable to do the devotion of God, because of the buildup of these karmas. So, she had a pet parrot and she had trained the parrot to do the Simran of God. So, the parrot would repeat, “Narayan, Narayan.” And by its repetition of the word ‘Narayan’, the Lord's word, she could then practice accordingly. So, she had trained this parrot that whenever the parrot would see her, whenever she would come in front of the parrot, she would repeat ‘Narayan’, Narayan’ and the parrot learned that, whenever she comes in front, it had to repeat ‘Narayan’, ‘Narayan’. So, that way, he was trained.
So, during her last moments, she was sitting on the doorstep and two agents of death came to collect her. They came and they started pulling her soul, her attention, out of the body and she was suffering a lot. While she was suffering, she was beating her hands around.
Now, the parrot, who was sitting inside, felt that a cat had come, but he saw that it was Ganika who was there and he closed his eyes in fear and started repeating ‘Narayan’, ‘Narayan’. So, with the parrot repeating the word ‘Narayan’, ‘Narayan’, that word ‘Narayan’ got into the ears of Ganika, whose attention was being pulled by these two agents of death. When she heard that ‘Narayan’, she also started repeating the word ‘Narayan’ while she was dying.
Now, the agents of heaven came at the same time. They heard the word ‘Narayan’, their Lord's name, being repeated. So, they came. And then they beat the agents of death away and they took the soul of Ganika to heaven. So, because she had trained this parrot to do the Simran, and because she also repeated that Simran, despite her bad karmas she was taken to heaven.
Kaha bharosa deh ka,
Binase jaaye chin vaahi.
Kaha bharosa deh ka,
Binase jaaye chin vaahi.
Swas swas sumiran kare
Aur jatan kuch naahi.
Kabir Sahib cautions us, “We never know when this breath will stop and we’ll have to leave this body. So, you should constantly do Simran with each breath that you take, and make that breath successful.”
So, Kabir Sahib, in this Bani, has constantly talked about the importance of Simran. Simran is the first step on the ladder of Sant Mat. And till our Simran becomes strong, and till the repetition becomes strong, we will not be successful on the Path of Sant Mat.
I had gone to Mumbai in 1978. That was the time the Sant Ji had come to Mumbai. He had come for the first time in 1978 and I was staying in the house of Mr. R.R. Singh. R.R. Singh was a great devotee and he had very good meditations. And he had the business of the distribution of betel nuts. So, he would get these baskets of betel nuts from Varanasi via M.P. (Madhya Pradesh). They would come to his house. And then I, along with about three or four other people and R.R. Singh, would sit and we would clean those betel nuts and make sure that all the leaves were correct. So, we had to take each betel nut leaf and turn it and see whether there was any defect in the betel leaf. And, he used to forever correct us and remind us that we had to do Simran with each betel leaf that we picked up.
So, with each betel nut leaf, we were asked to do Simran by him. He would keep a constant eye on us. And, when the mind would waver away while we working, he would immediately point out, “Where is your Simran?” And then again, we would start doing Simran with each leaf we would pick. So, he would keep pointing out to us and remind us to do Simran.
I stayed there for four months. Within one and a half months, the Simran became so strong that my soul started coming up, and it started withdrawing with that force of Simran. So, that was the first occasion where Sant Ji had come to Mumbai. And Bernard, Christopher, and Sant Ji were staying at Mohan Kanani’s house, on the eleventh floor in Worli. And so I, along with R.R. Singh and one more gentleman, Buneshwar, had gone to meet Sant Ji. And then, Sant Ji came and did a Satsang for us also.
So, Simran is the first step on the ladder. Without Simran, we will not be able to climb the ladder of Sant Mat. We should leave everything and focus all our attention and energies on building up our capability of Simran. We should keep doing more and more Simran.
Therefore, Kabir Sahib says, “Hold Simran, do Simran, and build your expertise in Simran. And keep doing that. And once you are able to do your Simran well, then you will start moving inwards.”
Kaha bharosa deh ka,
Binase jaaye chin vaahi.
Kaha bharosa deh ka,
Binase jaaye chin vaahi.
Swas swas sumiran kare
Aur jatan kuch naahi.
Radhaswami.