The paathi sings the Bani of Swami Ji Maharaj...
Bhakti mahatam suno mere bhai.
Sab santan ne kiya bakhan.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Swami Ji Maharaj. In this Bani, Swami Ji Maharaj has praised the devotion. Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Not only me but all the Saints have spoken about and praised the role of devotion.” So, Swami Ji Maharaj is questioning, “What is devotion? Is devotion going and staying in the jungle, or doing austerities, or doing other penances? Or is it people who take austerity and stay in temples, or stay in other holy places? Is that devotion?”
All the Saints have praised devotion, and that is the Path of Sant Mat. Devotion means taking the Form and manifesting the God Almighty, whether you are staying at home, or whether you are staying in the jungle. All the Masters have said, “You can do your devotion, even in your family, even with your children there. But, when you are going about doing and taking care of your family and children, you should spend two hours to two and a half hours in the morning for the devotion of the God Almighty.” God loves devotion. God doesn't love all the show outside. God doesn't love the money that is spent on Him. And God doesn't necessarily like all the saffron clothes and all the other colored clothes. What God loves is pure devotion.
Often, people wear saffron-colored clothes and all these robes, and they leave their children and families behind, go in the jungle, and try to do other austerity measures. But, even in the jungle, when they are there, their mind is still tied up with their other, worldly things. Then, what is the use of going and doing that austerity? So, if we carry all these other desires and all our other, worldly matters with us, we have all our needs and unfulfilled needs, then where are we going to go? We are going to come back in this world. So, even if we are staying here and doing our worldly responsibilities, taking care of our families and children, but in our mind, we are devoted to the God Almighty, then we are continuously in His remembrance. Then, where will we go? We will go to God Almighty.
So, devotion is a great thing. Devotion is not about being glamorous, or about doing a lot of show. But devotion is about love and remembrance of God Almighty.
Yahi mataa guru-mat pahichano,
Aur mate sab jhooth bhoolan.
Bina bhakti sab thothe maano,
Chilka hai bhingi ki haan.
Devotion is the essence of Sant Mat. All the Masters have adopted devotion, and that is the principle and essence of Sant Mat.
So, Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj, at a very young age, out of his love and affection for God Almighty, went to search for a True Master. And he spent more than ten years searching for a True Master. Finally, he got his True Master when he went to Agra and met and got blessed by Swami Ji Maharaj. And, after he took initiation and he was doing the devotion of Swami Ji Maharaj, he wanted to stay at the ashram and continue to do it.
But Swami Ji Maharaj refused to allow that. Swami Ji Maharaj told him, “No, while you are doing your devotion, you have to do your job also.”
Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj was not married. And he also did not have a very big family. He only had his mother at home.
All the Masters have adopted this Path of devotion. And that is the True Path to meet God Almighty. So, any path towards spirituality, or any practice in the path of spirituality without devotion, is like a peel of a fruit without the pulp. It is like the grams, which we divide up. It is only the skin of the gram that is there. So, anything, or in any practice, to meet God Almighty without devotion as the essence, is like that skin of the gram.
Valmiki had written the Ramayana ten years before the Ramayana took place. He had written this ten thousand years before Rama was born. And it was also written that Rama would be visiting this Pampapati Sarovar, which is a lake called Pampapati. And there, he would bless people. That was written in the Ramayana ten thousand years before. So, a lot of rishis, a lot of sages, went to Pampapati Sarovar early. And they settled there in the hope of getting the blessing of Rama later.
There was also one lady there. She was a tribal woman who was also there at that lake. This tribal woman's name was Shabri.
Now, what happened was, all these sages who had pitched their tents and who had built their houses near this lake, there was a lot of ego in all of these people. These people thought, “Look, we have come here for more than ten thousand years.” Likewise, someone had come for more than eight thousand years, and so on. And they were there, having established themselves at that lake, in anticipation of Rama’s coming there. So, they had a lot of ego that they had been waiting so long to meet Rama.
Shabri, however, had a lot of humility. And she also had a lot of love and affection. So, she would regularly do the cleanliness of the place, and she would clean the paths of these great sages who had their houses there. She would do this in the night, so she would not come in the sight of anybody. And she would quietly clean the place, without saying anything, with great humility.
Amongst all these sages, there was Matang Rishi, and he was more than a hundred years old. And he had been observing that this place was being kept clean by someone who was quite devoted. But who that person was, nobody knew. So, he said, “I want to see this person who has been cleaning this.” And he deputed two of his devotees to stand outside in the night to look out for this person who would come in the night and quietly clean this place.
So, when they stood quietly in the darkness, this tribal woman Shabri came, as usual. And she was cleaning this place. So, they located her, and then, they came to meet her. As soon as she saw these people coming to her, she was worried and she was trembling, because these people were brahmins. They were of a higher caste. And she was a tribal woman, a person of a lower caste. So, she felt, “If they chanced to see me, then they may curse me also.” She started trembling.
So, they took her to Matang Rishi. And she was all trembling when she went in front of him. But then, he told her, “Don't get scared. There's no reason to be scared. And don't tremble like this. I have not called you to curse you or anything. I have called you to bless you. I'm happy with what you have been doing.”
She bowed down to the great rishi and he blessed her. And he also initiated her and showed her the path. And he also blessed her, “When Rama and Lakshman come to this place, they will be first visiting your tent.”
She was delighted with this blessing that Rama and Lakshman would be coming to her hut first. So, what she did was, she went and she started preparing for receiving them. Now, she was a poor lady and she didn't have much to offer. What she did was, she went out to collect some berries. Now again, she could not climb these trees to pick these berries, so she collected the berries that had fallen on the ground. When she collected these berries, she had this doubt, “Maybe some of these berries may have some insects and some of them may not taste well also. So, let me just weed out the good berries from these.” And, what she did was, she tasted each berry to see whether it was sweet and whether there was any insect or anything. And she only took out those, which were tasting good and did not have any insects.
So, on that destined day, Rama and Lakshman came in search of Rama's wife, Sita. And they came to Pampapati Sarovar. When they came there, all the sages, who had a lot of ego, were all anticipating that, since they had been there for so long, Rama and Lakshman would first visit them. So, they all stood at their doors with their egos. However, Rama and Lakshman didn't go there. They went straight to the hut of Shabri. So, Rama and Lakshman went to her hut. And there, she offered them the berries, which she had tasted and kept. And that story is quite a long story, but they stayed there for three days. And they ate those berries also. And then, on the third day, Rama told Shabri, “Look, I love your hospitality, but I have to go further.”
When she could not stop them, and when Rama and Lakshman left, she so longed for them that she gave up her life after they left.
So, this is love and this is devotion. Seeing her love and devotion Rama had gone to her hut and had ignored all the other sages who had been there with their egos for such a long time. And it was only her love and devotion that pulled him there.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Whatever we do for meeting God Almighty, if it is not done with devotion, then it is as if we have got just the peel of the fruit.”
Taate bhakti dhrida kar pakdo
Aur syanap tajo nidan.
Bhakti ishk prem yeh teeno,
Naam bhed hai roop saman.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Establish devotion firmly in your heart. And ignore and exclude all of the other intellect and cleverness that you have, and all of the other things that you are doing with the intellect. And just establish that devotion and follow the Path of the Master. Do and follow the instructions of your Master.”
Bhakti ishk prem yeh teeno,
Naam bhed hai roop saman.
Whether you call it devotion, whether you call it love, whether you call it affection, all of that is the same manifestation of your love for God Almighty. So, it is the love of God Almighty. Without the love, or the devotion, or the affection, whatever you may want to call it, it is like the peel of the fruit.
So, you have to tread on this Path of Spirituality with love, affection, and devotion. Great Masters have stayed in Their families and have done Their devotion. They have done Their devotion with love and affection. And great Masters like Tukaram, Nanak Sahib, Kabir Sahib, all of Them, have been in Their families, and while being in Their families, have done Their devotion. So, They have done Their devotion with love and affection.
Bhakti ishk prem yeh teeno,
Naam bhed hai roop saman.
Bhakti bhav yaha gurumat jaano,
Aur mate sab man mat thaan.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “This devotion and this love and affection that you do on this Path of Spirituality is Sant Mat. It is the Path of Love. And any other thing that you are doing is under the influence of the mind.”
And that you do pranayamas, or you follow other practices, you go to the caves and do these pranayamas and other austerities, all this comes under the influence of the mind. So, all these other practices like pranayamas, and AshtangaYoga, or tapas, japas, all of these, require a lot of other things. You have to follow celibacy. You have to maintain a lot of diet control. You have to live and eat the leaves of neem and milk. You have to cleanse your intestines and your stomach, and then only, you can do these practices. So, despite all of these difficulties that we put our body through, it is very difficult. And, the result is, people who are successful in doing this are very few and far between. And some people who may do this may, at best, go to the level of Sahasdal Kamal, or the Thousand-Petaled Lotus level, or may even go up to Brahm. But, beyond that, they cannot go with these practices.
So, this all falls under the influence of the mind, because the mind is also from Brahm. Now, beyond that, none of these practices, which you have done under the influence of the mind, can take you.
Only a True Master Who has come from the God Almighty, from Sach Khand, and Who has the knowledge of that Path, only He can show the way and He can guide us on this.
At best, with these practices we get mystic powers, we get riddhis and siddhis. And these distract those persons who follow these practices and, at best, they reach the Thousand-Petaled Lotus. And, with the use of such powers, you cannot go beyond that.
Baba Somanath Ji and Ajaib Singh Ji also had done such practices, and they had also got riddhis-siddhis. They had also got these mystic powers. However, they were not satisfied in their mind. They did not have peace and tranquility in their mind.
So, when they got their True Masters and they got the Path of going back to the Almighty and they followed the Teachings of the Masters, then they got the peace and quiet and tranquility.
Bhakti bhav yaha gurumat jaano,
Aur mate sab man mat thaan.
Prem roop aatm paramaatm,
Bhakti roop satnam bakhan.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “The soul is Love. The Masters are Love. The God Almighty is also Love.” Now, going on this Path of Spirituality, going on this Path with the Masters, is the Path of devotion. It’s only with devotion, love, and affection that we can go on this Path.
The love and devotion that we have now, and the affection that we have now, is not permanent. It is temporary, and this will help us clear the nine doors and go to the Tenth Door. The true love, the true devotion, is at the Tenth Door. When we see the Radiant Form of the Master at the Tenth Door, that is when we develop true love, true affection, and devotion.
So, that true love is only when we see the Radiant Form of the Master within, and we get in touch with the Sound Current. Otherwise, this love and affection that we have today are temporary. It comes and goes.
When we go and meet the Masters and we attend Their Satsangs, then we feel very devoted. We get a lot of love and affection. But, when we go back to our routine life, then again, things change and that love and that devotion wanes a bit. And we are not able to do and carry out those practices when we go back. So, this comes and goes. The true love is only at the Tenth Door when we see the Radiant Form of the Master.
So, Kabir Sahib says, “This is not true love and affection, which comes for a second and goes for a second, and then, it is not there. We are unable to keep that and maintain that for even twenty-four hours.” So, those who are, for twenty-four hours, in love and devotion and affection of the Masters and God Almighty, that is True Love.
Prem roop aatm paramaatm,
Bhakti roop satnam bakhan.
Bhakti aur bhagwant ek hai,
Prem roop tu satguru jaan.
Devotion and God Almighty are not different. They are the same. And devotion to the Master, true love and devotion to the Master, is also akin to meeting the Master. When He sees that your love and your devotion and affection are true, He gives His Darshan and manifests Himself there.
There was a person called Dhanna Jat and he was a devotee. And he also had done his meditation. He had crossed his nine doors and gone to the Tenth Door and seen the Radiant Form of the Master within. And he was connected with the Sound Current.
Now, it so happened that in his family, and for various other people in the village, there used to be a ‘master’ who would come. And he was like the family guru who would come. And then, he would come to each of these families, stay there for some time, and then, the families would do various rituals and they would also make offerings to that guru. And he would go from one family to another.
So, this guru’s name was Trilochan Das. And Dhanna wanted to enlighten Trilochan Das. And now he, Dhanna, had only frugal earnings, so he was staying in a hut with his grandmother. And they used to have bhajra, roti, and saag. He used to do a laborer’s job. But he was very devoted, and within, he had manifested the Radiant Form of the Master. So, he also invited Trilochan Das to his house as a ritual.
Trilochan Das used to visit all the families in the village, being a common village, a common family guru. So, accordingly, after he had visited all the other families, he was to come to Dhanna’s house also. So Trilochan Das came to his house. And when he came, he opened his bag and he took out all of his false deities that he kept. And he did the rituals of those deities.
So, there were several such idols that he was carrying. They were the small idols of various gods and goddesses. Before consuming food, or before serving food, they typically do these rituals, where the idols are kept and food is put in front of them. So, accordingly, Trilochan Das did all of that, and then, they had food.
Now, when he was packing these idols back and putting them away, Dhanna Jat asked him to give one deity, one idol, to him so that he could also worship that idol for the year until the next visit of Trilochan Das. Trilochan Das was not very keen to give him that idol.
But Dhanna said, “Okay, I’ll not keep it for the year. You take it when you leave this place.”
Trilochan Das told him, “I will give you one idol when I leave.” And then, accordingly, all the festivities were over, the food was served and, after all of that, whatever offerings were to be given to him were given. And Trilochan Das then, accordingly, loaded his cart and was leaving.
When he was leaving, Dhanna Jat came running to him and said, “You had told me and promised me that you will give me one idol when you're leaving.”
Trilochan Das was not interested in actually giving any idol to this boy. So, what he did was, he looked around for a small pebble, or a stone or something, which he could give to him. But, in Punjab, the land is so fertile that you seldom find stones there. So, there was nothing.
Now, finally, what he did was, he found this dropping of a goat, and he took that dropping and gave it to Dhanna Jat. He said, “Look, this is a ling, okay, it's like Shiva. It's a ling. You keep this and do the ritual on this one.” So, he said, “Take this. It is a deity. Pray to it and worship it.”
And Dhanna Jat also bowed his hands and said, “Okay, thank you very much. You have blessed me with this deity.”
So, Trilochan Das told him how to worship, and he said, “You take a plain white cloth and keep it on that. And then, before you eat, you worship him, and before you eat any food, just give a little food to this ling. And then only, you consume your food.”
Dhanna Jat followed that instruction and took this ling, this thing that he had, and he went up on the terrace. And then, he placed a plain white cloth and kept it on it, and did according to what Trilochan had told him. And, when his grandmother gave him food, some dal and rice and roti, he took that also. And he offered that to this deity. And he said, “You take that. Only after you eat, I will eat.” And then, he kept waiting like that.
So, he waited for the deity to eat it. But nothing happened. Finally, he gave his food to the cow. And, that way, this went on for five days. He kept offering, and the deity would not take it or accept his offering. And he then would give it and feed it to the cow. So, he became weak like that. And this went on.
Finally, the God Himself felt, “This can't go on like this. And, if he doesn't eat, then he will die because he has lost a lot of weight and he has become very frail doing this.” So, on the sixth day, then God Himself manifested. And He took that offering, which Dhanna gave Him. And the two rotis that were offered to Him, He started eating. And He finished one roti.
Then, Dhanna told Him, “What about me?” So, God offered that second roti to Dhanna. And, this went on. Whenever Dhanna got food, he would go up, offer one to God, and then eat the other one. So, when God was eating like this, God Almighty felt, “Look, I am eating his food. I have to also, now, do some service for him.” So, He asked Dhanna, “Do you have any land?”
He said, “I have four acres, but it is barren land. There is no water in that land.” So, God told him, “Okay, don't worry. I will take care of that.” And, God Himself created a well and got the water and made a proper field ready.
And then, accordingly, he was getting good produce there from that land. And when he got good produce, he asked God, “What next should I do now with this income that I’ve got from the produce?”
He said, “You build a good house.” So, accordingly, a good house was built. Then, that produce kept coming on and on. And he was getting good income.
Further, God told him, “Okay, you buy more land.” And, accordingly, the amount of land he owned also increased. And that further gave more produce and more income. So, from there, again, God told him, “Okay, whatever is surplus, now you start donating that. And you start feeding others.”
So then, accordingly, every day about one hundred fifty, two hundred people would eat it. So, he had this langar and he would offer food every day from his surplus produce that was there. And this kept on happening.
Then, the next time on, when Trilochan Das came, he saw all of this happening, and he wondered how this happened. He was quite shocked to see the development. And he met Dhanna Jat and asked him what happened.
Dhanna Jat said, “This is that same deity you gave me. So, first four, five days he made me starve but, from the sixth day onwards, he has been giving all this to me.” So, Trilochan Das wondered, he was very curious, “Okay, show me that deity.” He said, “Where is this person?”
He said, “He's there. He must've gone to the jungle to fetch wood.” So, Trilochan Das ran to the jungle to see who was this deity. Who was this? And he saw there that wood was, automatically, getting put on the cart. And he came back running and told Dhanna, “No, there is nobody there.”
Dhanna said, “No? Maybe He’ll be watering the field. Go and see there.” So, he went there, and there, the watermill was running on its own. And water was being put in the field. So, again, he came running back to Dhanna. But Trilochan Das couldn’t see him anywhere.
So, he came back to Dhanna, and then Dhanna told him, “Okay, maybe, in the evening when He comes back, I will speak to Him.”
So, Trilochan Das requested of him, saying, “Let me also see Him and take His blessing.”
He said, “Okay, I’ll speak to Him in the evening and let you know.” So, Dhanna went and, in the evening, when he met God, he requested. The God had manifested in the form of a servant there. And so, when he met Him, he requested, “My guru, my family guru, has come and he wants to meet You.”
But God told him, “Look, he is not fit for getting my Darshan. So, I am not going to give him Darshan.”
But, he requested, he said, “See, if You don't give him Your Darshan, then he will feel that I'm just lying about everything that's happening around here. So, please, I request You to give him Darshan.”
He said, “OkayWhen you bring me your food tomorrow, I will give him Darshan for one second.”
So, early morning, he told Trilochan, “Okay, you will get the Darshan.” Trilochan, accordingly, got ready and put his tika on and all of that, and came. He was to meet Him at nine o'clock. So, he came early at eight, all ready and waiting. And he went on that terrace to meet God.
When at nine o'clock, his grandmother prepared food, Dhanna took that food up to His God. And even Trilochan Das was there. When he offered that food, God showed Himself and manifested in the form of that person.
Trilochan Das bent forward to take His blessings. And, as soon as he also saw Him, and as soon as he bent and looked up again, He had left. After he saw this other God, after he got His Darshan, he realized, “Look, I have been doing this practice for so many years, and I have never got this Darshan. But this boy, this person, has got it.” And he bowed down to Dhanna and he said, “No, you are not an ordinary boy.” So, he said, “No, no, this is all because of your deity, which you alone gave me. And that is how it is.”
And he said, “No, but this can't be, because so many years, I have been doing it.” Finally, then Dhanna blessed him and he salvaged Trilochan Das.
So, therefore, when we do our devotion, we should have a true love, true faith, when we do that devotion. If we just do it outwardly, just for a practice, then we are not successful. We should do it with all the faith inside. And with all the faith and love and affection, we should do our devotion.
Prem roop aatm paramaatm,
Bhakti roop satnam bakhan.
Bhakti aur bhagwant ek hai,
Prem roop tu satguru jaan.
Prem roop tera bhi bhai,
Sab jivan ko yonh hi maan.
Ek bhed yaame pehachaano,
Kahi boondh ki lahar samaan.
Kahi singh sama kare prakashaa,
Kahi sot aur pot kahaan.
Kahi ichcha parbal hoye baithee,
Kahi huyee mayaa balvaan.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “The soul and the Masters and God Almighty are all the same. The difference is like a drop of water, or a wave, or the ocean.” The difference is only in the form of the water − the ocean, the wave, and the drop − because the soul has come within the purview of Kal. It has manifested as a drop, and that drop is at the Tenth Door. When this drop salvages itself, it realizes itself. It meets the Master and goes upwards. Then, at Par Brahm, it takes the form of a wave and it goes up. And when that drop merges into the Ocean of God Almighty, it becomes and takes the form of the ocean.
So, this difference is only a difference in the manifestation. And because that drop is in the clutch of Kal, and it is under the illusion of Maya, it is going through a different phase. Once it goes above the Par Brahm, that Maya, that entanglement of Maya, and that influence of Maya and Kal, are less, and they completely leave when the soul goes upwards into God Almighty.
Ek thikaane maya thodi,
Sindh prataap shudh huyee aan
Sot pot me maya nahi,
Vaha prem hi prem rahan.
Vaha bhandaar prem ka bhaari,
Ja ka aadi na ant dikhan.
When the soul passes through the nine doors and crosses the Tenth Door, and it sees the Form of the Master and gets connected with the Sound Current, it goes upwards. Now, the influence of Maya in these two planes, the current plane and the plane above, before Par Brahm, is strong. And, after that, this influence goes away when the soul crosses the Par Brahm and goes upwards.
Bina sant pahunche naa koyee,
Satguru sant kiyaa asthaan.
Prem bhakti ki aisee mahimaa,
Grahan karo yaha amrit khaan.
Tate pahile karo bhakti guru,
Peeche paao naam nishaan.
Aarat kar kar guru rijhaao,
Paao unse prem nidhaan.
Radhaswami kahat sunaayee,
Milaa tujhe ab bhakti daan.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Beyond the Par Brahm, it is the Masters Who show the Path and Who know the Path. And we can reach there with devotion at the Feet of the Masters.” We cannot reach there without devotion.
So, we should do our devotion. We should follow the Teachings of the Master and follow the Path shown by the Masters. And then only, we can reach that stage beyond which the Masters take us because the soul is an element of God Almighty.
In this world, we are embroiled in all these attachments. And these attachments have never given us any peace and bliss ever.
So, the True Peace and Tranquility is only in Sat Lok-Sach Khand. Only there we get the Nectar of Peace and Tranquility. And that is there only in Sach Khand-Sat Lok.
Aarat kar kar guru rijhaao,
Paao unse prem nidhaan.
Radhaswami kahat sunaayee,
Milaa tujhe ab bhakti daan.
Radhaswami.
{Satsang closes with the traditional Swami Ji bhajan of Karubinanti.}
Closing Talk 15 Aug 2015 – MorningDo Your Simran Bhajan And Satsang Every Day
SO, TODAY, THE FIFTEEN-DAY PROGRAM of Satsang, Dhyan and Bhajan comes to an end. All of you have come from far away. You have left your occupations, you have left your families behind, and you have all come all this distance. And you have participated in this program and done your seva here.
So, I'm very pleased with that. And I pray at the Feet of Masters Som and Ajaib that He blesses you so that you can do more devotion and you can do more BhajanSimran and you are able to achieve greater progress in your spirituality and make good use of this human life that you have got.
So, like the time you have given here for meditation and for Satsang, when you go back, as and when you get time, you should give more and more time to SimranBhajan and you should listen to Satsang every day. It may not be possible for you to get the time that you got here because there you will be engaged in other activities and your routines. But, as and when you get time there, and preferably in the morning when you can set out a separate time, you should do your meditation regularly. That way the Grace of the Masters will be with you and you will not get completely swayed by the power of the mind.
What happens is, otherwise, if we don't do this, then the mind becomes very powerful and takes us away from this Path. So, we should continuously do our BhajanSimran.
So, I pray that all of you do your BhajanSimran regularly at home, so that, before you come again here, you will get some good progress on your Spiritual Path.
If during your stay here, there has been any mistake made by any of the sevadars, or there have been any problems that have been created for any reason, I ask for your forgiveness. Please don't carry any distaste or ill will as you go back.
Radhaswami.