The paathi sings the Bani of Sant Paltu Sahib Ji...
Guru jo diya hai sohi tu liye raho.
Guru jo diya hai sohi tu liye raho
Usme bahut vishwas karna.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Paltu Sahib. In this Bani, He talks about the importance of having faith. Everyone gets as per their fate deeds, as per their karmas. But they should have faith and continue their devotion. In one family there could be four children, but each child would have a different fate and would have a different future. So, according to each one’s Pralabdh karmas, the God Almighty gives and provides.
In this Bani, Paltu Sahib talks about faith. He says that “Be content in what has been given to you by your Master, and do Simran and Dhyan and you will keep developing and progressing on the Path.” When the Guru gives us initiation, He comes within and sits in the form of the Shabd. He is not far away from us and is forever and always with the soul. So, if we take our attention away from the world and all worldly matters, and focus it within at the Lotus Feet of the Master, then we shall surely be successful. He says that the basic foundation of devotion is faith. Like in the case of a building, the entire building rests on the foundation of the building. If the foundation is strong, then the building shall be strong and long-lasting. Likewise, faith is the foundation of devotion. If the faith is strong, then the devotion will last.
So, how do we build faith? Faith is developed as we spend more and more time doing our Simran. With Simran, our mind gets cleansed and as the mind gets cleansed, automatically, we develop faith and get peace.
When I was being initiated by Baba Somanath Maharaj Ji, I carried an ego that I was an evolved soul with several good impressions and virtues of my previous births. And, therefore, I thought I would be getting a lot of experiences at the time of initiation. And that's how my ego built up. And I went in and sat for initiation with a few others.
But, when Baba Somanath Ji gave the initiation, a lot of the other people said that they had very good experiences and they related their experiences. I, however, did not get any experience. But, after that, I continuously did seva and Simran all night. And with Simran, the mind became purer and I could quickly get my attention and focus. And my soul started rising to the Eye Center. And I started getting experiences in a matter of about six months. So, as I did Simran, I got the Grace of my Master and I progressed internally.
It is very important to continuously do Simran and have faith while doing Simran. With the Simran, one gets the Grace of the Master and Simran enables us to leave the nine doors and come to the Tenth Door.
So, Paltu Sahib says, “You should have faith in what your Master has given you.” He has given you the Naam. If you continuously do the practices, the Grace of the Master will be there and you will progress on the Path.
Hoyga bohut fir shabad jab lagega.
Hoyga bohut fir shabad jab lagega.
Chit ko cheti kai dhyan dharna.
You should not worry. You should just focus, have faith in the Master and do Bhajan Simran, and as the attention gets focused at the Eye Center, you manifest the Sound Current from the Almighty, and all your problems get solved. Dhyan and Bhajan are very important and we should continue and keep doing our practice regularly. One gets immense happiness and contentment when one comes to the Eye Center and manifests the Sound Current and the Radiant Form of the Master within.
Here is a small example. There was a devotee who had sat for meditation for six months. He had taken permission from his Master to sit for meditation. While he was doing his meditation, he developed a deep longing to meet his Master. He felt a very, very strong urge to go and meet his Master and receive His Darshan and blessings. So, he came to meet his Master. His Master was sitting in meditation inside a room with the door closed. He knocked on the door.
The Master asked from inside, "Who is it?"
He replied, “It’s me. I am so and so. I'm here outside and I long for your Darshan."
The Master told him, "So long as there is a 'you' outside, the door shall not open.
Go back to your Bhajan. Go and sit and do your meditation."
He was shaken up by this event and he went back to his meditation and regularly did his Dhyan and Bhajan. And, in six months, his soul got focused at the Eye Center and he could see the Radiant Master within. He realized that it was really not he who was doing all this meditation and Simran, but it was the Guru Who was getting him to do all of this meditation and Dhyan, and Bhajan. So, he realized that he is like a puppet and it is the Master Who is actually doing everything.
And then he went once again back to his Master and he wanted to meet Him. And he knocked at the door again. It was closed this time also.
So, when he knocked, the Master asked this time, "Who is it?"
He said, "It is You who is standing outside. It’s You only and no one else."
Upon hearing this, the Master then replied, "Okay, if that is so, then I'm opening the door."
This way when the soul focuses its attention and comes to the Tenth Door, all the ego of “I”, “me” and “my” gets over and only You (the Master) remain.
Chatur jo hoyega karaiga kasab ko.
Chatur jo hoyega karaiga kasab ko.
Boond hi boond samundar bharna.
Paltu Sahib says, “It is the intelligent and the wise devotees who understand that the practice has to be continuous and they don’t leave the practice.” Drops of rain fill great lakes and rivers flow from them. Likewise, we should regularly do our meditation and practice. We should not be impatient. We should live in the Will of the Master and do our practice regularly. And whatever little or more experiences we get during this course of regular practice are experiences, which will be lasting.
There was once a learned pundit, a brahmin, who came to Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj to listen to His Satsang. In the Satsang, there was mention of the Sound Current inside, the Light inside, and experiences that a soul can get inside. Listening to these things in the Satsang, the pundit wanted to see all this within and he took initiation. He sat for meditation for six months.
However, during the practice, his mind was wavering with other thoughts and he was not doing the Bhajan and Dhyan as he was supposed to. As a result, he did not get any experience within.
So, after six months, he was not very happy with his experience. He felt that maybe he wasn’t sitting in the correct position. So, he started doing some pranayamas, which were like breathing exercises, along with meditation. So, he kind of mixed up both these things and he tried to do his meditation.
Again, he did that for about six months, and still, he didn't get any experience. He was disappointed and felt that the Master is just lying and there is no such Light and Sound within.
Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj used to get a pension from the government after His retirement. Once every month He used to go to the office of the government and collect His pension.
Once it so happened that this pundit was sitting on the way near a tree, and as Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj was passing, he came running to Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj and held His feet. And he said, "Please give me an experience. I will not leave Your feet till You give me an experience."
Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj explained to him, “Don’t do like this. By doing this you will be at a loss. Only after daily practice, when we get an experience, the body can withstand that experience because it is used to it and that experience lasts."
But the pundit was adamant. He said, “No, Maharaj Ji. Whatever happens, it does not matter, even if I suffer, but I want an experience.”
Finally, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj said that “Okay, if you are so insistent, then sit for meditation and I will give you an experience."
So, the pundit sat for meditation and then Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj touched his head and caused the soul to be transcended above at a great speed. The pundit started hearing the Sound Current within and he could hear thunder and other sounds.
But, as the soul got pulled very fast, his entire body started feeling acute pain. He could not bear the pain of the soul moving so fast outside and being pulled out of the body.
So, after some time, it was unbearable and he pleaded to Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj to release him from that. It was hurting him like a million scorpions biting him in each cell. That is the kind of pain he had to endure for being pulled up like this. Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj graced him and gradually got the soul back in the body.
Then, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj told him, "Now, you only have eight days left to live, so go and do what you want to do now.”
The soul inside the body is something like a silk cloth, a very fine silk cloth, which is spread on a very thorny bush. When the Masters pull up the soul, with regular practice each and every thorn is very, very gradually and delicately released. And the cloth is very, very gradually pulled up so that it doesn't tear at any thorn. And that is how it takes time. And that is the long practice, which enables the Saints and the Masters to pull up and release the cloth from the bush. If the same exercise is done fast, then it will result in the cloth tearing on the thorns.
So, as we sit in meditation, from each cell the attention of the soul is gradually pulled up. So, every time it gradually is pulled up, and when we lose focus, our soul’s attention goes back into each cell. And this practice keeps on happening. So, every time we focus at the Eye Center, the soul keeps coming up and then, gradually, when we lose attention, it goes back. And because of this slow and very gradual process, the soul is able to easily move out of the cells and easily get back into the cells.
Chatur jo hoyega karaiga kasab ko.
Chatur jo hoyega karaiga kasab ko.
Boond hi boond samundar bharna.
So, the intelligent and wise people meditate and do Dhyan and Bhajan on a regular basis, like the droplets that fill the pond. With gradual Dhyan and Bhajan and regular practice, the focus at the Eye Center continues and improves over a period of time. The body also gets used to this and develops the resilience and does not have to suffer.
Das paltu kahai sifat hai surat ki.
Das paltu kahai sifat hai surat ki.
Aur koi khayaal main nahi parna.
The disciples should be disciplined and should continuously keep their focus and attention on the Path of the Masters, on the Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran.
Very often the mind works on the disciples and takes them away from the Path by losing faith in the Path and in the Masters. But a wise and intelligent disciple will continue to stay focused and have faith in the Teachings of the Master, and continuously do Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran.
Our current attention is outwardly drawn to various things and various worldly things. So, with the Simran and the repetition of the Five Names at the Eye Center, this attention that we have otherwise scattered all over the world, is gradually concentrated and is progressively focused back at the Eye Center.
Therefore, gradual process is what is required, and a continuous process is what is required. So, Simran, Dhyan, and Bhajan have to be a continuous and gradual process, and whatever experiences we get according to this process, and whatever progress we make on the Path according to this process, will be lasting and forever.
Santosh ke dhare se khay gaj pait bhari.
Santosh ke dhare se khay gaj pait bhari.
Swan ek took ko ketik dhavai.
Paltu Sahib gives an example. He says that there is a tame elephant. It is such a big elephant and it is chained. But the elephant continues to have faith in its master, and the master, very regularly and from time to time, feeds it.
As opposed to that, there is a jackal, which is wandering around with no faith in any master or person. Even though the jackal is free, it has to struggle for food. So, every day, every night, it goes from village to village, from place to place, in search of food. Though it has a small stomach, it goes hungry and has to travel from place to place to eat food.
The elephant has such a big stomach, but it has faith in its master and it remains fed and satiated.
Likewise, the essence of devotion is faith. A disciple, who has faith in the Master, and continues to regularly meditate as told by the Master, such a disciple is provided for by the Master Who looks into his needs and gets all his needs fulfilled.
sant kee vrutti ajdaha ki chahiye.
sant kee vrutti ajdaha ki chahiye.
chale binu firae aahaar paave.
Paltu Sahib gives another example of the way of the Saints. The way of the Saint is the way of a python, or a very large boa, or large serpent who is unable to move too fast or too much. But, at the place where the python is, his prey comes automatically to him. So, this is the fate of the python, for the God to give him food. And it is fed at its place though it is unable to move much.
Likewise, a disciple should have faith in God and he should sit regularly in meditation and be focused. And God will fulfill his wishes. Unlike a lot of people who travel from place to place on pilgrimage for the contentment of the soul, the Masters preach that you can stay in your very homes and meditate. God provides for those who, staying in their very homes, stay focused and carry out the practices of Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran with faith and devotion.
Singh aahaar ko karat hai sehaj main.
Singh aahaar ko karat hai sehaj main.
Siyaar das bees ghar mund naavai.
Paltu Sahib gives another example. He says that a lion does not have to wander too far or make too much effort to get his prey. He gets the prey near the place he stays. And, unlike that, if we look at a jackal, he has to move from place to place and he has to travel a lot for him to get and fulfill his need for food.
So, it is like the Saints, Who have Their practice, and Who stay at one place, and get Their livelihood from agriculture or other means, as are provided by the Almighty to Them. They do not go from place to place like various other pundits who, basically, go from place to place searching for their daily food and asking for alms, or asking for food from house to house.
Das paltu kahai aur kuch naa karay.
Das paltu kahai aur kuch naa karay.
Bhakt kai mool santosh laavai.
The essence of devotion is contentment. Paltu Sahib says, “Saints have contentment.” Saints are content with what They have. Ravidas was a cobbler by profession. He was a fully attained Saint, but He never asked the Almighty to give Him more than what He used to earn through His profession.
Likewise, Kabir Sahib was also of very humble earnings. He used to weave silk cloth. And the income that He would get from that was also just about enough, or slightly less than what He needed, for meeting the needs of His family. Yet, from all over the country, kings and noblemen and other rich people used to come and visit Him. They respected Him and they were always at His doorstep.
This made a lot of pundits and brahmins in Varanasi very jealous. They wondered how such great and big and rich people are at the doorstep of this weaver. The king of Varanasi was Bir Singh. Even Bir Singh was an initiate of Kabir Sahib. But, again, Kabir Sahib Ji never ever asked any of His disciples, including Bir Singh, for any help financially.
So, the jealous pundits and brahmins of Varanasi plotted against Kabir. In order to embarrass Kabir, what they did was, they printed lakhs of invitations. And they sent those invitations to everybody, to lakhs of people, just about a week in advance, inviting everybody to Kabir Sahib's house for lunch.
So, on the day of the invite, as one might expect, if you invite someone for free lunch, then they come early also. So, there were four or five sadhus who came very early in the morning at seven o'clock. And they asked Kabir Sahib Ji, "How come you have not put up tents?"
So, Kabir Sahib Ji said, "Why would I need to put up tents?"
They said, "Well, you have invited a lot of people for bhandara, for lunch."
That's when Kabir Sahib Ji understood that there is such an invitation, which had been sent to embarrass Him. And estimating from the five people that had already come at 7:00 am in the morning, it was quite possible that there would be a large number of visitors by afternoon for lunch.
So, Kabir Sahib was worried. But He was resigned to the faith in God Almighty. And He prayed to Him and said, "If this is Your Will, so be it. If You have to take care and protect my prestige and honor, You take care of it. If You don't want it that way, that is also up to You. So, it is entirely in Your Hand." Having said that, He went about two kilometers away and sat for meditation.
God Almighty took the form of Kabir and He came to His house. He got His bullock carts and He got His food. And He, with His own strength, with His own powers, created the tents also for people to come and have a good meal. And He created all kinds of foods that could be given and served.
That day, everyone who came and ate was very content with the quality and kind of food that they got. They were very happy and everyone said, “Hail, Kabir.” And they praised Kabir Sahib for giving them such good food. And God Almighty was in the very form of Kabir Sahib.
So, the meal went on from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm in the evening and they all sang praises of Kabir and they were leaving.
Now, it so happened, that where Kabir Sahib Ji was sitting for meditation, four or five people were passing there, singing Kabir's praises, saying that even a king could not have provided such kind of food. And they were saying, “Dhanya Kabir.”
So, hearing His name being uttered like this, He wondered, and He came out and met those people. And He asked, "What is it that makes you sing my praise, and why are you saying ‘Dhanya Kabir’?
So, they said, "Oh, You are such a great person. Even big kings would not have given such kind of meals. You have fed so many lakhs of people with such great food. So, it is only You who can do that."
Hearing this, Kabir Sahib ran back to His house, and He actually saw all of this, these tents and people and all that.
And when He went back, the God Almighty vanished from there. And then, He realized that it was the act of the God Almighty Who did all this and He praised the God Almighty, "Hail, O God Almighty. You are so kind. You have protected my honor. Thank You for doing this."
So, if one has faith and love for their Master and for the God Almighty, and one does the devotion, Bhajan and Simran, with love and affection, then all the needs and requirements of such a devotee are taken care by the Master and the God Almighty.
Three things are important. One is to be humble. Second is to live content in the way God has given you your life and to be content with what you have. And third is to continuously and without break do meditation, Dhyan, Bhajan, and Simran.
Drushti kacchap ke ri dhyan jo laaeye.
Drushti kacchap ke ri dhyan jo laaeye.
Anda surati se sayee aave.
Now, Paltu Sahib is explaining how we should have our focus, attention, and Dhyan. He gives the example of a turtle.
So, when a turtle lays eggs, it comes to the shore and it lays several eggs in the sand.
And after it covers the eggs back with sand, it immediately goes back into the sea and lives a normal life. It eats, it saves itself from predators, it swims, but, at all times, its focus is always on the eggs. And those eggs hatch because of the focus and attention of the turtle on each and every egg. So, for even a second, attention is not diverted from the egg.
Because of this attention, the egg hatches and the young one comes out. The attention of the turtle, at all times, is on the egg and on the hatchlings, and then, the young ones gradually come to the water. So, for a second also, the attention is not diverted.
Likewise, for a devotee, the attention should be always connected and on the Lotus Feet of the Master, though they are amidst their families, though they are doing all the family chores, managing their business or doing their jobs or earning their livelihood, etc. Amidst all of this, like the turtle, the attention should always be on Naam and the Lotus Feet of the Master. So, He says that this is the correct way of Dhyan.
Taar makaree gahe uteri ke aavati,
Taar makaree gahe uteri ke aavati
Ulti ke taar gahi fari jaave.
Here is another example. A spider makes its web. It comes down on its own extruded silk thread from its abdomen. It casts a web from this thread and it makes the web and moves around, feeds, etc. on this thread. And ultimately, it pulls the thread back and goes up again.
So, likewise, when the devotee does the meditation and manifests the Sound Current within, then on that Sound Current the soul climbs and goes upwards. It develops this capability to move on the Sound Current. When the soul reaches the Par Brahm and it has the illumination of twelve suns, it then starts to move on its own light.
Chetuka gira jyo alhal ke pachha ka.
Chetuka gira jyo alhal ke pachha ka.
Jama par beech me ulti dhavai.
This is another example of how a Sadhu should be. He says the Sadhu should be like an alal bird, a mythological bird. It's a sky bird. And the unique feature of this bird is that it lives in the sky and it lays the egg while it is flying. And when the egg is laid, as the egg falls towards the ground, the egg gets hatched. And the young one comes out of that egg and keeps falling and keeps growing. And, before it touches the ground, it realizes that this is not its home. And it, again, turns back and starts flying upwards. This is the example that is given.
So, this is the trait of a Sadhu and the Masters. When They come into this world and They get the Teachings of the Master, They practice on the Teachings of the Master and They go back without getting spread out into outward worldly things. This example of alal bird is only in Sant Mat. It is not referred to anywhere else.
Das paltu kahe bhrungi jyo keet ko.
Das paltu kahe bhrungi jyo keet ko.
Det jiyayee tyon chitta laave.
Paltu Sahib gives another example of the bhringi, a predatory wasp. It is like a mason wasp. This wasp creates these small nesting places made of mud and with small holes. And it brings these green caterpillars from outside and keeps those green caterpillars in its nesting place. And there, every morning at 4:00 am, it makes them listen to its sound. And with that sound of the bhringi, the caterpillar gets gradually transformed into the bhringi. So, the bhringi does not lay eggs, it brings these caterpillars and transforms these caterpillars like itself.
Likewise, Saints also get the disciples, give the initiation to the disciples, show them the Path and transform them like Themselves. So, the Saints get the disciples connected to the Sound Current and take them to Sat Lok-Sach Khand, where they see God Almighty and, there, Saints make them exactly as They are Themselves.
Das paltu kahe bhrangi jyo keet ko.
Das paltu kahe bhrangi jyo keet ko.
Det jiyayee tyon chitt laave.
Radhaswami.