The Paathi sings the Bani of Swami Ji Maharaj from the book: Saar Bachan Sangrah
Dhany hai sant niz dhaam sukh chaad ke,
Dhany hai sant niz dhaam sukh chaad ke,
Aan ke kaaz ko deh dhaara,
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Swami Ji Maharaj. Swami Ji Maharaj, in this Bani, says, “In this world outside, there is darkness. And, if we look within ourselves also, we see darkness.” Outside there is darkness, because of light. And inside there is darkness, because of ignorance. But, we may think that outside we can see everything, but why are Mahatmas saying there is darkness outside?
If we see in the night, if we are at home and, all of a sudden, the electricity goes off then, if we are watching the television and this electricity goes off, then we cannot see the television. We cannot see around us. We cannot see inside the cupboard, because these eyes that we have can only see with external light. They do not have their own light. And they can only see with the help of sunrays or some other light, which is there outside. So, in the daytime, we see because of the sunrays, and in the night, if there is no electricity and lamps, then we cannot see anything. So, therefore, these eyes cannot see on their own. They do not have light of their own. They only see with external light.
He says, “Within also, when we see, there is darkness.” This darkness there within is not only in this lifetime. It has been there. Ever since we have come into this body, there has been darkness. The darkness outside can be dispelled with some external light, like the sunrays, or some such other light. But within, that darkness can only get dispelled by Naam.
Swapan jaagrat dono dekhi,
Bhool bhulaiyaan dhar maara,
Jeev ajaan bhaya pardesi,
Des bisar gaya nij saara.
If we look at how we spend the day then, from morning to the next morning, there are three phases. There is jaagaran, which is where we are awake, sapna, where we are in the dream stage, and sushupti, which is deep slumber.
When the mind is at the Eye Center, at that time we are in an awakened state. When the mind comes from the Eye Center to the throat, at that time, we are in a sleep state. So, at that stage, we see dreams. And, as per our karmas, we are getting those dreams also. From there, when the mind further comes down to the heart level, the heart chakra, there we are in deep slumber.
At that time, there is everything around us, but we have no experience about anything because we are in a very deep slumber there. So, again, when the mind comes back to the level of the throat, again, we start getting into a dream stage, and we experience dreams. And, as the mind further goes up, behind the Eye Center, there we, again, get awake. And then, we are aware of all our surroundings.
So, that way, our time is going in these three phases, where we are awake, asleep, and in deep sleep. Mahatmas say that in that stage where we are awake also, we are wasting it away in delusion.
What is bharam, what is delusion? It is where we think that truth is false, and where we think what is false is truth. So, what is false? What is unreal? It is everything that we are seeing around us. This world, this is false. Our relationships are all false. Even this body that we have is false. But, we believe all these things that we see, and this body, to be true. And that is why we have gone away from the truth.
And what is truth? The soul is truth. Guru, the Master, is truth. And God Almighty is truth. So, what can never be destroyed is truth. And, what will get destroyed eventually is false.
Soul is a part of God Almighty. So, it will never get destroyed. Likewise, Masters are also a part of God Almighty. And God Almighty is God Almighty. So, these will not get destroyed. What gets destroyed is this world, and all our attachments, and everything around us. And we are wasting our time around this falsehood.
What happens as a result of believing in this falsehood and going after it? Eventually, at the time of death, we have regrets for all of this, because we have spent all our life behind these things, which we have to leave.
So, therefore, we are spending even our time, our state of being awake, we are spending it in this delusion. In the dream state, we are sleeping, and we are dreaming. And in the deep slumber state, we are not aware of what is around us.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “The jiva has come here and, in this world, Kal and Maya have put the wheel of delusion on it and, as a result, it has started identifying itself with this world, and has become a foreigner to its True Home.” A foreigner is someone who goes to some other foreign land to make a living, or to stay there.
The soul, likewise, has come from God Almighty. It has come into this world and is a foreigner here. And, as a result of this, this soul comes here and it takes on its karmas. It is identifying itself here and, as a result, it is suffering continuously in several life forms here in this world. It is redeeming its karmas, sometimes as a tree, sometimes as an insect, sometimes as a bird, sometimes as an animal.
So, therefore, the soul has come here and, in the sphere of the mind, it has started doing all of this and has got into sorrow. And, therefore, the Saints come to awaken that soul.
Phire bhatakta khaan khaan mein,
Joni joni bich jhakh maara,
Dam dam dukhi kasht bahu bhoge,
Sune kaun ab bahu haara
The soul goes into the lower life forms to redeem its sins, its karmas. And there, it is in deep sorrow and it pleads for mercy. But, there is no one to listen to it.
We see in the oceans also, and in the seas, the bigger fish eat the smaller fish, and they are happy like that. Likewise, if we go and see in the jungles, the bigger animals eat the smaller animals. And, that way, they make them their food.
This is how Kal has made this Creation. It is that each jiva protects itself, and it is also alive because it is destroying some other jiva.
So, everyone, with whatever karmas that they build, they have to go and redeem those karmas. We observe, daily, how so many chickens are cut and killed every day, how many goats are killed every day. In Bombay, there is an abattoir. There are so many animals that are slaughtered there. There are truckloads of animals that are carried there. They are all stamped in red color. And then, they are left in that yard, in that abattoir.
Swami Ji Maharaj is saying, “What we are seeing there, is happening with them. Tomorrow, such things will happen with us also.”
So, that is very sorrowful. Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Leave this falsehood and start loving the truth, start loving reality.”
The Masters are connected with God Almighty. When we, with love and affection, go to the feet of our Masters, then They connect us and take us back to God Almighty. God Almighty has given us such a precious jewel, such a precious time as a human being, to do His devotion and go back to God Almighty. But we, in this delusion, as human beings, are wasting all of that time, and wasting that precious opportunity.
kare pukaar kaargar naahi,
parre nark mein jam dhaara.
bhatak bhatakta nar dehi paai,
indri man yahaan maara.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Because of the karmas, the soul also goes to hell. And there, the angels of death give it a very bad treatment.” We can even go inside and see.
On the left side, there are twenty-seven different hells and, on the right side, is the Path to go back to God Almighty. So, we can go and see that, how the angels of death beat the souls and give them all sorts of ill-treatments and punishments. The soul is crying there, and it is calling out for help. But, there is nobody who is coming there to help it.
Once, there were a few visitors who had come to meet Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj. And, while they were sitting, He asked Bibi Lajo to prepare tea for them, and she went in to prepare tea. And, Bibi Ralli used to sit for meditation in the langar itself, in one corner.
Bibi Ralli was sitting in meditation and she used to go within. So, she once thought, “Every day, I take this Path, which goes to Sach Khand-Sat Lok. I will try the left side.” And there, she experienced what was happening in those different types of hells. These angels of death were giving punishment to the souls there and, when she saw that, she got very frightened. She was so frightened that her body became yellow in color, and she was perspiring all over.
So, Bibi Lajo, incidentally, saw her. She saw her body had become very pale and yellow, and she was perspiring. So, she ran out and told Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj.
When Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj saw Bibi Ralli, He immediately said, “She has gone to hell.” And then, He touched her and He got her soul back. She had been too frightened to return back because she felt these angels of death would catch her also. And, she was too frightened to go ahead. So, she was standing there in fear. When she got back, for ten minutes, she was speechless.
And then, after she calmed down, Bibi Lajo asked her, “What happened?”
So then, she explained to her the situation, that she had gone to hell. And she
had got very frightened seeing all those treatments being given out to the souls
by these angels of death.
So, Mahatmas don't tell all this to you to scare you. All these things are there within. If you do your Bhajan Simran you can actually go inside and see. The soul gets into the sphere of the mind and does all kinds of karmas. And, to redeem those karmas, it has to go to hell. And there, it is screaming, shouting, and it is in agony. But, there is no one to help it.
satguru sant kahen bahu tera,
raah bataaven das dwaara.
bachan na maane kahan na pakrre,
phir phir bharme nau vaara.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Looking at this misery of all these souls, the Saints feel merciful.” Because Saints feel, “We have got the bliss of being with God Almighty, even these souls should get that.” And then, They show us the Path of how we should do our Simran and leave our nine doors and come to the Tenth Door. And, when we come there, we will get relieved of this misery.
Till we come to the Tenth Door, we will not be able to get rid of this misery, because we are looking at this world as a reality. We are looking at this as real. And, in this, we are trying to search for our happiness, our peace.
Some people manifest that in the form of trying to accumulate wealth. Some people manifest it in other ways. But, we are trying to search for that peace, which is fleeting, and it is not there in this world.
Masters say, “That peace, which we are searching for, is neither in wealth, nor in position or stature in the society, nor in any other kinds of relationships here. That peace is there only within.”
When we listen to the Masters and follow Their Teachings, and do our Simran and meditation, and when our sitting is for about three to four hours, then all these things will become very clear, and we will be able to experience that peace within.
Masters always try to explain, but we are not willing to listen to this and get our peace. Even though we listen to the Masters, we do not follow what is being said. We listen from one ear and take it out from the other. We do not imbibe what is said and bring it into our daily life because this is the deceit of the mind.
Every time that God Almighty has given us this opportunity, this human life, every time, your mind has deluded you. The mind and the senses have deluded you and kept you away. The work that God Almighty had entrusted to us to do in this lifetime, we are staying away from that work. And, as a result of the other things that we are doing, we get back into this cycle of life and death.
Sant Ji used to, often, relate this story of Guru Nanak. At that time, there was an initiate. Now, he had taken initiation, but he was not really into Sant Mat, and he didn't really do any practice. He spent all his time outwardly, in his attachments, with his family, and with his cattle. And he spent his whole life like that. Even in his dreams, he did not do his Simran, and he did not have any love or affection for his Master. Now, he completely forgot his Master and, as a result, the attention of the Master, also, was not there on him. He passed away like that.
Now, because he had died with his attachment here to his family and surroundings, he was born there again as a calf. So, when that calf grew up, his children of his human life took care of him as a calf. And, when he grew up to about three years, they started training him on how to do farming. So, they would tie him to the bullock cart, and they would also do farming. They would tie the plow to him, and then, they would beat him also. They didn’t know that he was their father. So, that bullock grew up and he took care of the farming needs of the family.
And once, Guru Nanak Ji and Mardana were sitting on a hilltop, and Guru Nanak Ji was reciting a Bani and Mardana Ji was writing that down.
So, while He was reciting the Bani, suddenly, He started laughing. Mardana wondered, and he asked Him, “What was the funny part? There was nothing in the Bani that was funny.”
So, Nanak Sahib told him, “What to tell you? One of the initiates, instead of coming and rising above, has gone in a lower life form.” He said, “He has become a bullock.”
Mardana Ji said, “You have initiated him so You should also help him. If you go and help him, or tell him, awaken him, he’ll definitely listen now, because he must be suffering as a bullock.”
Guru Nanak Sahib said, “Okay, let us go. We have given him initiation. We should go there.”
So, They went to that village and that family. It was a well-to-do family. And, when They went, They were well received by the family members, and They were given good hospitality. And They were, later, asked as to what the reason was for Their visit to the family.
Nanak Sahib told them, “I want to see your bullock.”
So, they took Him to where the cattle were tied up. And there were four bullocks.
Nanak Sahib went to that bullock, which was the initiate. And then, while He was
caressing that bullock, He softly mentioned in his ear, “Are you now ready to come?”
Now, that bullock-initiate said, “This other bullock, who is there with me, he is
weak. And, because I am strong, I make up for his weakness, and I'm able to take
that load. Now, if I go with you then, what will happen? That weak bullock will
not be able to handle it, and the family will suffer.”
So, the attachment was still there with the family and, typically, bullocks live for about seventeen, eighteen years. But, because they are so badly treated, they oftentimes die earlier. So, that lifespan of that bullock also ended, and he died there. But, he was still attached to the family. And, because he was still attached and he had longing for that family, he was born again as a dog now in that vicinity. So, he was born as a dog there in that area, in that house.
Guru Nanak Sahib and Mardana were sitting below a tree once and, suddenly, Mardana remembered that initiate, who was a bullock. So, he asked Nanak Sahib, “What happened to that initiate?”
Nanak Sahib told him, “Now, he is a dog.”
So, Mardana, once again, requested Nanak Sahib, “Now, he may not be well-fed and
he must be suffering more. So, please give him Your Grace. Please extend Your Grace.”
Nanak Sahib said, “Okay, he is my initiate. I will take care of him. So, if he listens, we will help him. Let's go there.”
So, again, they went there. Again, they were well received in that family, and they extended their hospitality. So, when they were there, they called that dog there. And, again, while caressing the dog, Nanak Sahib mentioned in his ear that, “Now, at least, will you come?” Saints are able to communicate with a soul, and They know the language of the soul, so He asked him again, whether he would like to come?
This time, the dog said, “These people leave their door open. They don't take care of the house, and then, if a thief comes, he can steal anything from the house.” So, Saints never force anything, and They walked away from there. So, the dog continued there.
Now, once it so happened that, the housewife was in the kitchen and she was making a roti of Bajra. She had prepared some, and there was one that she was preparing on the pan. So, this lady went out to fetch some water. Meanwhile, the aroma of that roti was overwhelming, and this dog went inside. And he got that roti out of that pan and started eating it.
When that lady returned, she saw that this dog had eaten that roti, and she was furious. So, she left that pot of water outside and took a strong stick and waited at the door.
Now, when this dog realized this, he ran out scared, and she was waiting outside with a stick for him. So, as soon as he came out, she hit him hard with that stick. As a result, his backbone, his spinal cord, broke.
Now, she did not realize that this was her father-in-law. So, that dog suffered for a few days and was unable to move. And he died after about seven, eight days. He still remained attached to that family, and he was reborn there again, this time as a snake.
So, he was still attached to that family and, as a snake, he liked to see his grandchildren. So, whenever he came out to see the grandchildren from his hole, people would run with sticks behind him. So, again, he would hide behind that.
Once, the family members were out cutting grass in the field, and that granddaughter was sleeping. And she woke up, and she started crying. Now, that snake could not stand this, because he could not stand his granddaughter crying. So, he came out. Seeing nobody was around, he came out and he went on the bed and he tried to play with his granddaughter.
Meanwhile, one of the house ladies came in for fetching some water, but then, she saw her daughter playing with that snake, that snake was with her. So, she threw that pot and she ran away to call everybody. So, everyone came with sticks.
Now, this soul did not realize that this time he was a snake and he had forgotten about it. He continued to play with his granddaughter. And these people, in the meantime, came and they killed that snake with sticks. So, that life also went away. But, the attachment was still there with the family. So, after he died as a snake, he was born again, this time as an insect. And he was born in that sewage of that family’s gutter.
So, Mardana, around that time, again, asked Nanak Sahib, “What happened to that disciple?”
Nanak Sahib told him, “From a bullock, he became a dog. From there, he became a snake, and now, he is an insect, and he is in the sewage of that family house.”
So, Mardana prayed to Guru Nanak Sahib, and said, “Please, save him. Please, shower Your Grace on him, because now he will go into the form of a tree.”
Guru Nanak Sahib said, “Okay, we have given him initiation. Let us help him.” And, by now, he was quite aged also. So, they went slowly back to that house. And, when they went there, He showed him where, in that sewage, that insect was. So, with a stick, He showed him where that insect was.
Mardana then picked up that insect with two sticks and put him on the ground. And there, with His toe, Nanak Sahib killed that insect, and He gave him the birth, again, of a human form, because Masters do not give salvation from any other life form. It has to be from the human form only.
With the Grace of the Masters, if They want to Grace a soul, They bring him from that chaurasi, from the other life form, into the form of a human. And it is only from the human form that the salvation is possible. So, that way, Guru Nanak Sahib gave him another human form. And a later Master would initiate that soul, and then, get him salvation.
Once the seed of Naam is planted, that never gets destroyed. What happens is that, if we waste this human life, despite being initiated, then we may have to come back again as a human being. And then, it is another Master, a living Master at that time, Who will initiate that soul. So, that relationship with the existing Master then does not continue. If there is even a little love and affection for the Master by an initiate, though he has not done his meditation, the Master comes at the time of death. And then, He doesn't give him another life form. He takes that soul and places it in a higher plane, and there, He makes the soul do its meditation, and then, takes it back. And then, it is the same Master Who takes the soul back to God Almighty. And there is no need then to change the Master.
Phokat dharm pakarr kar joojhe,
Boojhe na shabd jugat paara.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “We waste this precious life behind our creed, caste, color, and various other outwardly, religious pursuits. We do not get faith in the Teachings of the Master, and we waste this life.”
Paani mathe haath kuchh naahi,
Ksheer mathan aalas bhaara.
Jeev abhaag kahoon main kya kya,
Baahar bharme bhau jaara.
We waste our time in all our worldly attachments, our precious time. And, it is like churning water and trying to take out butter from that. So, that is futile.
What we should have done, instead, was to do Simran and do our meditation and follow the Teachings of the Master, which would be churning milk and taking out butter from that.
So, instead, we have wasted our time churning water in our outward, worldly pursuits. As a result, we have regrets at the end, because everything in this world will remain here. Nobody can take it with them.
antarmukh jo shabd kamaai,
ta mein man ko nahi gaara.
ved shaastr smrit aur puraana,
pad pad sab pandit haara.
He says, “What the Masters teach us, Who have gone within, we do not follow Their teachings.” Instead, people believe in reading scriptures, and Vedas, and Puranas, and try to look for salvation there. There is nothing there. There is no salvation by reading umpteen numbers of books and scriptures. The salvation lies only in doing the practice and following the Teachings of the Master.
Bin satguru aur bina shabd surt,
Koi na utre bhau paara.
Yahi baat bhaakhi main chun kar,
Ab to maano guru pyaara.
After explaining all of this, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Without the Grace of the Satguru, and without Bhajan Simran, nobody has been able to get salvation.” He says, “I have been very selective in what I have told you. You have to understand this and follow what I have told you.”
Yahi baat bhaakhi main chun kar,
Ab to maano guru pyaara.
Radhasoami kaha bujhaai,
Surat charrhaao nabh dwaara.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Don't waste your time doing all the other things. Follow the Teachings of the Master. Get your mind inverted within. Do the practice of Surat Shabd Yoga, and come from the nine doors to the Tenth.” When we go within, when we manifest the Radiant Form of the Satguru, the Master within, and with His Grace, when He manifests the Sound Current within, then all our questions, all our queries, all of those get settled.
Yahi baat bhaakhi main chun kar,
Ab to maano guru pyaara.
Radhasoami kaha bujhaai,
Surat charrhaao nabh dwaara.