The paathi is singing from the Bani of Swami Ji Maharaj...
Aaj sakhi kaaj karo kuchh apna,
Guru darsh tako chhorro jag supna.
Aaj sakhi kaaj karo kuchh apna,
Guru darsh tako chhorro jag supna.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Swami Ji Maharaj. In this Bani, Swami Ji Maharaj refers to the soul. He refers to the soul as a female. Because all the souls are females and there is only one male, which is God Almighty. He refers to the soul, and He says, “O soul, you have been given such a precious opportunity. You should use this to do your own work.” When the soul is full of sorrow after it has gone in these 8.4 million life forms, God Almighty takes mercy on that soul and gives that soul an opportunity of this human birth. After the human birth, the soul does not get another human birth, it goes back into those 8.4 million life forms. Sometimes it goes back as an insect, or it goes back as a tree. The karma is of essence. Deeds are of essence. So, according to the deeds of the person, Kal sets the next course of birth in that 8.4 million life forms and gives it that suitable birth as per its karmas. So, the deeds are of essence. Karmas are of essence in this human life and if one does the correct karmas he can even get salvation in this life and get out of this ocean of life. Otherwise, he can also do very bad karmas and go to hell also. So, after crores of lives — with the mercy of God Almighty — we get the human life. And with the Grace of the Masters, we get the company of the Masters.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “You have been given this life, this precious life, so you should do something of your own. You should do your own work.”
We may have a doubt in our mind that today also we are doing our own work only. We are doing our work of taking care of ourselves. We are taking care of our families. We are taking care of our business or our employment, and all this is our work only.
But, Mahatmas say, “No. This is not your work. If you are doing your business, then that work is of your business. If you're working at the farm, then that work is of the farm or that is agricultural work. And if you're taking care of your families, then it is the work of the families that you are doing. You’re not doing your own work.”
So, what is our work? For knowing what is our work we have to sit quietly and we have to think and contemplate as to who we are. Who are we really? And why is it that we are taking birth and then we are dying again, and again we are taking birth and dying, and we are continuously in this cycle of life and death? And what is it that we should be doing to get out of this cycle of life and death?
God has given you this wonderful opportunity of human birth. This human body is not simply blood and flesh. It is the body in which God Almighty resides with all His Creation. All His sixteen planes are contained within this human body. So, He has created this body and within that body, He has kept his entire Creation. He also resides in that Himself. And He has also created the Path for the salvation of the soul to go back and meet Him within the body itself.
So, this human birth is the last step on that ladder. It is also called the ‘Door of Salvation’. When we are tired and we are suffering in that 8.4 million life forms and we are continuously in that cycle, God Almighty graces us and He has mercy and He gives us that final door to salvation and says, “Okay, you can take this opportunity and get out of this cycle of life and death.”
Therefore, Saints say, “When you have got this beautiful body, you should make use of that by sitting for meditation and trying to go back to God Almighty, because all that you are seeing and believing is all nothing but a dream.”
Even Kabir Sahib says, “Great people and avatars like Ram and also very learned people like Ravana — all of these people who had massive kingdoms and armies — all of them are also no more.” So, nothing is permanent in this life, in this world. Everything is impermanent. So, this is nothing more than a dream.
This world is a world of destruction. Everything that is created will get destroyed. Everything that takes birth will die. So, everything has got a fixed time for its birth and for its death, for its creation and for its destruction.
Aaj sakhi kaaj karo kuchh apna,
Guru darsh tako chhorro jag supna.
Nahi pachhitayiho sir dhun roiho,
Jam ki nagariya anek dukh sahiho.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “If you have been given this beautiful opportunity and you don't use this opportunity then, again, you are going to fall back into that 8.4 million life forms. This cycle of life and death of these 8.4 million life forms is nothing but a cycle of sorrow. It is an ocean of sorrow and it has been created as such. For someone to survive, he has to eat and live on the other. If we see the oceans, then the larger fish eat the smaller fish. Even in the jungles, the larger animals are killing the smaller animals. And this is how the construct of life is. How is it possible that it is anything but sorrow?
So, whatever karmas we then burden ourselves with and we build in this life, we have to redeem these karmas. And we do not get another human life to redeem these immediately. We have to go back in those 8.4 million life forms.
There was a mahatma and he had a disciple who used to go with him and carry his baggage along with him and they used to travel across the country. In those days, there weren't means of transport like trains and buses or other transport. People used to walk in those days and go from one place to the other. So, it would take three to four days to go from one place to the other. And there they would take shelter in some temple or some such place at the outskirts, and then continue thereafter on their journey.
So, once, while they were walking, they came across a jungle and they felt that they would cross that jungle or that forest, but when they ventured into it, they found that the forest was quite an expanse and they would not cross it. So, while they were walking through it, it became nighttime and it became dark. When it became nighttime, the mahatma told his disciple, “There is no village in sight and we are quite tired. So, why don't we take rest? We’ll just clean up some area below a tree and take some rest. And then we'll leave after some time.
So, they cleaned up some area below a tree and there they collected some firewood and lit a fire because there were wild animals around there. That fire would keep them away.
The mahatma told that disciple, “You have been carrying the baggage and you must be more tired, so why don't you take the first sleep? You sleep first and wake up at twelve o'clock and, thereafter, I will go to sleep. Till then, I will keep guard. It won't be correct for both of us to sleep because some wild animal will come. So, I will take the first shift and I will sit around this fire and you take rest.”
But, the disciple told the mahatma, “No, you are older than me. You will be more tired than what I am, so why don't you go to sleep first and I will take care, and thereafter, at twelve o'clock, you wake up and I will go to sleep.”
So, that disciple sat and the mahatma went to sleep. And then he started doing his Simran and he had lit a fire and he was looking all around to just make sure that no wild animal comes around.
When it was twelve o'clock, the mahatma woke up and he said, “Okay, now you go to sleep. I will keep guard.”
So, the mahatma was then keeping guard and around one o’clock, one-thirty, there was a wild animal that came around the bush. There was a sound in the bushes and the mahatma felt that there was something in those bushes. It was like the sound of a snake. So, he went there near the bushes with a little fire in his hand and there he saw that there was a cobra, there was a fast snake, and that was going towards that boy who was sleeping.
So, the mahatma could understand the language of the soul, so he stood there and asked that snake as to where he was going.
The snake told him, “In my previous birth, I was a brahmin and that boy, who is sleeping there, was a snake. And once, when I was sleeping, he came and he bit me on my neck and he drank some blood. So now, I want to do the same thing. I want to bite him and I want to drink his blood.”
So, the mahatma figured it out. He felt that if this cobra bites him to drink blood, then his poison would spread in that body and that boy would die. The mahatma suggested to that snake, “Instead of you biting and drinking his blood, I will make a slit or I will cut his neck, and I will draw blood from there and I will give you that blood for drinking.”
So, the snake accepted that because, finally, he had to drink that blood from the neck of that boy. It didn't matter how that was solved. So, he felt that is okay.
The mahatma took a knife and a small utensil and this boy was sleeping on his back. So, he folded his hands and he sat on his chest so he could cut that neck and take out some blood.
With the weight of that mahatma sitting on his chest, that boy woke up and he looked up and he saw this mahatma sitting on his chest. So, that boy saw and he felt, of course, that it is the mahatma only who is sitting, so he thought, “Whatever he does, it is fine.” And so, he closed his eyes and let the mahatma do whatever he was doing.
The mahatma then made a small cut on his neck and he collected some of that blood in that utensil and he went to offer it to the snake. He offered that to the snake and, accordingly, the snake drank that blood and left.
Now, that boy was in deep slumber, and though it was paining him, he continued to sleep. And the mahatma then did some first aid on him and he put some leaves on, etc. And then he went to sleep himself.
Now, in the morning, that boy woke up with pain in his neck, but he did not go to ask the mahatma what he had done. So, accordingly, when both of them woke up, they started walking from there.
That boy also did not ask the mahatma why he had done this and the mahatma also did not offer an explanation to him. And they continued walking.
After some time of walking through the forest, they reached a village. There, they had food, etc. And, again, they continued walking from there. Neither of them had spoken about this incident to each other.
So, then they left, and by evening they reached another village and they stayed on the outskirts in a temple nearby. That boy now could not resist asking the mahatma as to what he had done. So, when they were eating in the evening, he attempted to ask him. And he said, “Yesterday, you sat on my chest with a knife. But why did you leave me with a small cut? Why didn't you cut my full neck?”
Then the mahatma explained to him, “Yesterday, last night, when you were sleeping and I was on guard, I heard this sound and I went there to look into the bushes, and I found a snake that was there. And then, I conversed with him— and this was a cobra— and he had come to drink the blood of your neck because it so happened that he was a brahmin in his earlier life and you had drunk blood from his neck. I felt that, if he comes and— he being a cobra—that cobra bites you, then you will die and your cycle will continue; with each life, he will come and bite you; then next life, you will go and bite him. So, I felt that I should end that cycle. Therefore, I decided to stop this cycle and I made the choice that I would get the blood of your neck without ending your life. And, accordingly, I sat on your chest to hold your hands back because otherwise, you would then struggle. I decided to do it that way. And then, I gave him that blood — I offered that blood to that snake. And, accordingly, he was satisfied and left. So, that way, that cycle of killing each other stopped.”
So, this is a way Saints reduce your karmas. They redeem these by doing something like this; or by giving you Parshad; or, sometimes, by redeeming your karmas in your dreams. They make you suffer in the dream and reduce that karma in the dream state only. Or, they reduce through Satsangs, which they give you; or simply by Their company. So, that is how Saints reduce and redeem your karmas.
Nahi pachhitayiho sir dhun roiho,
Jam ki nagariya anek dukh sahiho.
Maano bachan suno dhar kaan,
Surat lagaaye suno dhuun taan.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “If you do not listen to what I am saying and you continue to work under the influence of your mind, then you will go back into that cycle of sorrow, into those 8.4 million life forms.” So, you should get up in the morning and spend two and a half hours doing your meditation. And then, leave your nine doors and come to the Tenth Door and open your Third Eye. That way, you will be able to get out of this cycle of sorrow.”
He says, “Masters say that you don't have to leave your families and go. You don't have to leave your home and go outside in the jungles to pray to God Almighty. God Almighty is residing with His full Creation within you.”
All you have to do is to sit for about two and a half hours — try to make a sitting of two and a half hours — and leave your six chakras and go to the seventh chakra.” When you come to the Eye Center, there you will see your soul. Your soul has a shape of Light and Sound. It does not have a body. But it has a shape of Light and Sound and you will be able to witness for yourself and see your soul for yourself.
The soul sits at the Third Eye. It sits at the Eye Center and only the attention of the soul goes below in the body. So, your soul is not in the body. Your soul is at the Eye Center. Only the attention of the soul is below.
And, at the same place, your Master is also there and your mind is also there. So, where your mind and your soul are there — which is at the center of the Eye Center — that is where you are asked to focus and do your meditation. And, when you go there, you will manifest the Radiant Form of the Master. And once you have manifested the Form of the Master within, then He's going to be there with you at all times. Whether you go to America, He's going to be there with you. Whether you go to Africa, He is going to be there with you. At all times, He will be there and He will never leave you. With the Grace of the Radiant Form of the Master, He manifests the Sound Current and He manifests Jyoti. So there, both of these are manifested and our work is done after that.
Maano bachan suno dhar kaan,
Surat lagaaye suno dhuun taan.
Nahi mar mar janmo chaaron khaan,
Maan maan ab meri kahi maan.
Guru ke charan ka kar tu dhyaan,
Shaan gumaan chhorr abhimaan.
He says, “The Path taught by the Master — you should follow that Path. You should do your Simran and you should contemplate on the Form of the Master within. Other than this, there is no other way to get out of this ocean of life — this ocean of sorrow.”
Today, all our attention and focus has been drawn outside in all of these worldly desires. Everything is drawing us out and we are constantly in the remembrance of all of these things outside. By the Simran, we are inverting that attention and going within. And, once we go in, then at the Tenth Door, the Sound Current is resonating and the Radiant Form of the Master is also waiting. Once we go there and we manifest the Radiant Form of a Master, and the Sound Current with His Grace, then our work is done. After that, it is the duty of the Master.
So, it is our duty to go to the Tenth Door. It is our duty to sit for two and a half hours every day for doing our meditation, Simran, and contemplating the Form of the Master. And, by doing that, we shall be able to leave the six chakras and go to the seventh chakra. After that, it is the Master Who is going to take us onwards to God Almighty. In each of the planes, He is going to be there and He is going to take us further.
Guru ke charan ka kar tu dhyaan,
Shaan gumaan chhorr abhimaan.
Guru bin tera ko na sahaai,
Naam bina ko paar lagaai.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “In this entire Creation there is no one who can get you salvation from here and who can get you out of this ocean of life.” And He says, “There is nothing other than Naam that can take you back to God Almighty.”
When we follow the instructions of the Master and we cross the six chakras and come to the seventh chakra — that is the Eye Center, that is the Third Eye, that is the ‘Door of Knowledge’ that is called Shiv Netra — at that place, we get knowledge of everything. We also see the six chakras below and each of these chakras is ruled by a deity. So, we see those deities also. And everything becomes clear there.
Guru bin tera ko na sahaai,
Naam bina ko paar lagaai.
Aaj kaaj kar guruu sang bhaaj,
Soona parra tera takht aur taaj.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “This work of yours, you should do it today and you should not procrastinate it till tomorrow.”
Kabir Sahib also says, “What you have to do tomorrow, you should do it today. And what you had to do today, you should do it now.” Because no one knows when calamity will strike and then you will not be able to do that work.
So, this is a story in the Ramayana. In the war between Rama and Ravana, at the end of the tenth day, when Ravana fell to his death, the war came to an end because Ravana was the king of Lanka and he was shot and he was dying. And, with the end of war, Rama suggested to his brother Lakshman — and he instructed him — to go and take knowledge from Ravana because Ravana was a very learned person. He said to Lakshman, “Till now, there is no one who is as learned, as good a governor, as Ravana and he is astute in the law of governance and in the knowledge of everything. So, you should go there and ask him to give you some knowledge, because after this war we are going to go back and rule all Ayodhya. And we do not clearly have much knowledge about governance and about politics. So, you should go there and take lessons from him.”
But Lakshman was more egoistic and he told Rama, “We have killed Ravana, so if we have killed him as our enemy then there's no point in going to him and asking him to give us knowledge.”
But Rama, however, instructed him to go and get some knowledge. So, despite his not wanting to go, he went on the instruction of Rama. And, when he went there, where Ravana was dying, he went there and stood by his head — instead of standing by his feet — asking him for lessons. He requested for being given some knowledge about governance and politics.
Ravana was a very learned soul, but he did not even bat an eyelid when Lakshman was standing there and asking. Lakshman requested him two or three times and Ravana didn't bother. So, on this, Lakshman felt very insulted and he felt that his brother should not have sent him here like this to get insulted like this. With a sad heart, he went back to Rama.
So, he came back to Rama and complained about this. And he said, “I went there. I told you that it was useless going there and I should never have gone there to ask him this. I asked him, I requested him repeatedly, but he didn't even bother to look at me.”
So, Rama asked him where he was standing when he was requesting for knowledge.
He said, “I was standing by his head asking him for knowledge.”
Rama said, “Who do you think that Ravana is? Don't underestimate him. He's a very learned person and he has learned all the Vedas and he has loads of knowledge, so you should go to him humbly and treat him as a guru, as a master because you're seeking knowledge from him. So, you should go and stand at his feet, touch his feet, and then request to be given knowledge.”
So then, with that ego gone, Lakshman went back and he touched the feet of Ravana and he requested and told him, “My brother has asked me to come here and I request you to impart some knowledge from the vast knowledge that you have.”
So, when he bowed to Ravana and he touched his feet and requested, then Ravana looked at him and he smiled and he said, “Yes. Now you have come as a disciple. Now it is my Dharma to give you knowledge. But, unfortunately, you have taken a lot of time to come and I have only a few breaths left.” And he said, “Okay. I have a few breaths left but I will quickly tell you.
When you go back to rule all Ayodhya, you should make it a point that whatever you have to do tomorrow, you should do it today. And whatever you have decided to do today, you should do it right then.”
He said, “Whatever you have to do tomorrow, you do today. And whatever you have to do today, you do it now. And don't waste your time like that. Don’t procrastinate like I have been doing.”
He said, “I felt that look, there would be no one on this earth who can come and kill me and I had three things I wanted to do. And I used to keep delaying those and procrastinating doing that because I felt that I'm immortal and I’ll be able to do it later.”
Lakshman asked him, “What are those things that you wanted to do?” So, he said, “One of the things I wanted to do was to build a ladder from this Earth to heaven, and with my knowledge and my ability I'm sure I could have done that. But, I kept postponing that. And now, here I am dying, and I am unable to do that.
Another thing that I wanted to do was this. The Earth has a huge expanse of water, and all the seas and oceans but, unfortunately, we cannot use that water much because it is not sweet. It is all saline water. So, I had the ability and I could have done this. I would've converted all the seas and the oceans into sweet water. But, unfortunately, now I'm not going to be able to accomplish that.
And the third thing that I wanted to do was to get fragrance in gold.”
Ravana liked gold. His entire Lanka was made of gold and he had brought all this gold from the heavens. He used to keep going there bringing gold back and, as a result, he had made the entire city of gold. So, he felt that this gold does not have a fragrance and he wanted to get fragrance into gold. He said, “I could've done that also, but unfortunately now, I'm not going to be able to accomplish that either.”
And then, Ravana told Lakshman, “When you go back —looking at my experience — you should make sure that whatever you have to do tomorrow, you should do it today. And whatever you have to do today, you should do it now, because there is no certainty about your life — when it will come to an end. So, you should do everything forthwith.”
Swami Ji Maharaj also says, “Whatever you have to do tomorrow, you should do it today and you should not procrastinate your own work, which is to do your meditation and go back to God Almighty.”
Now, we should make use of our younger age and a fitter body that we have today, and we should use it to do our meditation. Many people believe that they will start working on spirituality after they are of the age of seventy or seventy-five years old. But, by then, most of the organs have already given their resignation. You are not even able to sit properly. So, what will you do and how will you pursue spirituality at that age? You should do that also at a younger age and make that as a routine.
Also, as we grow older, in old age our mind is forever lost in all the thoughts. Over so many years, we have had so many thoughts and we have built a huge reservoir of thoughts and all our experiences. So, as we grow old, the mind does not settle down easily. It is very active and it continuously is in all of these thoughts. So, all of these pictures keep coming back to us in old age — all of the things that we have done. And the mind is not quiet and still at that age. It is very difficult to make the mind still at that age.
Aaj kaaj kar guruu sang bhaaj,
Soona parra tera takht aur taaj.
Shabd pichhaan surat nij saaj,
Chhorr jagat aur kul ki laaj.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “You should recognize who you are. You are not this body. This body is simply a vessel of earth, which you as the soul are powering. And you are making it do what it does, but you are not the body. And this is not your world. This is the world of Kal and Maya. Your true world is the world of God Almighty — Sach Khand-Sat Lok — and you should be going back there. You are an element of Sach Khand-Sat Lok and not of this world.”
So, from the time that you have left Sach Khand-Sat Lok and you have come into this world, your throne on which you were sitting there, that is bare. That is laid bare right now and it is awaiting your return.
Shabd pichhaan surat nij saaj,
Chhorr jagat aur kul ki laaj.
Man aur surat guru sang maanj,
Nahi phir khuli hai tera paaj.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Follow the Teachings of your Master and go back to your True Home, which is on the sixteenth plane, on the highest plane. Go back to God Almighty in Sach Khand-Sat Lok. And there, there is no Kal. There is no Maya. There is no life. There is no death. There is no joy. There is no sorrow. It is sheer and pure bliss and splendor that await you there.”
Man aur surat guru sang maanj,
Nahi phir khuli hai tera paaj.
Koorr phatak le guru ka chhaaj,
Bhog bilaas chhorr yah khaaj.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Follow the Teachings of your Master. Your Master has given you the Teachings, and what He explains and tells you in the Satsang, He does so selflessly and it is only for your interest. He has no self-interest in telling you and explaining to you and awakening you. The only interest he feels is that for the kind of bliss that he is enjoying, he would like you to also enjoy that bliss and go back to your True Home because nobody is happy here in this ocean of sorrow.
Whether it is a king or a pauper, everyone is lost in their own desires. They are forever struggling and entangled and chasing their desires, which are very superfluous. The only true satisfaction and true bliss are when you follow Their Teachings, go within, go to your Eye Center and there, when you manifest the Sound Current, all your desires, all these pulls and tugs and pressures, all of these will go and you will enjoy your bliss. And you will be able to go back to your True Home.
All these desires that we pursue here are only for a few days and, finally, we have to leave all these behind. And, because we have these desires, they draw us back into this ocean of sorrow.
So, Masters say, “You should try to get out of this cycle and you should follow Their instructions and the way that you will be able to get out of this entanglement is by going within and leaving your six chakras and going to the seventh.
We seldom follow the instructions of the Masters. Instead, we pursue our worldly desires and we keep chasing these desires and all our relationships and all the materiality around us. And, what happens, as a result, is at the end, they kick us out. When we die, we have to leave all these behind and none of these come with us. So, we are not able to get what we are chasing here and we have wasted that precious time — which was given to us — where we should have followed the instructions of the Master. So, we end up not doing devotion and not following the instructions of the Master and we don't get that spiritual benefit also. We chase the desires, which kick us at the end of our lifetime.
The Masters initiate us, and all of us who are initiated, if we have love and affection for our Master, then at the time of death, the Master will definitely come to fetch us. He will not allow the agents of death to come.
So, when we have not been able to do our Bhajan Simran adequately — but we have love and affection — the Masters come to take us. And at the time of death, They give us Darshan and, with that Darshan, we then go with Them and They take us to the eighth plane, the astral plane, which is also a plane where we don't have the pulls and pressures of this world. And there we can listen to the Sound Current. With the Master’s Grace, the Jyoti is also manifested so we can have the Darshan of the Jyoti. And we can listen to the Sound Current also.
Koorr phatak le guru ka chhaaj,
Bhog bilaas chhorr yah khaaj.
Radhasoami kahi banaai,
Jo nahi maano bhugto bhaai.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj, towards the end of this Bani, explains, “I have explained all of what was required to be explained to you. Now, if you understand and you follow, that is for your own good. But, if you do not do that; again, that is to say, you are on your own. As Masters, we do not force anybody to do anything.”
Koorr phatak le guru ka chhaaj,
Bhog bilaas chhorr yah khaaj.
Radhasoami kahi banaai,
Jo nahi maano bhugto bhaai.
Radhaswami.