The paathi sings the Bani of Swami Ji Maharaj from the book: Santo Ki Bani...
Satguru kahe karo tum soyee,
Man ke kahe chalo mat koyee.
Satguru kahe karo tum soyee,
Man ke kahe chalo mat koyee.
THIS IS THE BANI of Param Sant Satguru Swami Ji Maharaj. Swami Ji Maharaj in this Bani has tried to explain that, when we go on Sant Mat and we go to the Masters, the first thing we have to do is listen to the Teachings of the Masters. So, when we go to the Masters, we should not go to the Masters to fulfill our worldly desires and wants, because that is our biggest illness, our desires and wants of this world. We have this illness. If there is an illness in our body, we can go to the doctors. With this illness, the cure is only with the Masters. It is the illness of going back and forth into this cycle of life and death. This is called bhavrog.
To get ourselves rid of this bhavrog, this perennial cycle of life and death, we go to the Masters. And when we go to the Masters, the Masters grace us and They take that responsibility of taking us out of this cycle and curing this illness of ours. So, therefore, when we go to the Masters, and the Masters are curing us of this illness of this cycle of life and death, then it is incumbent on us to follow the instructions of the Masters and stick to whatever They say.
But, when we follow this Path, the big impediment that we have, which always faces us, is Kal. That is the biggest obstacle on the Path of Sant Mat. So, the mind, which is there with us, is an essence of Kal. And the duty of the mind is to see that none of this world should leave the compound of Kal and go back to God Almighty. Therefore, whenever we try to do our devotion and we follow the Path, the mind always brings obstruction. It gives us all the worldly things to be followed and all the desires and all the other wants. And it tries to distract and delude us in this world.
So, what is the end result? It is repentance. When we have followed the mind, we have followed the mind for all these wants and desires, and we have built all these things around us. At the time of death, we have to leave all these things behind us. So, the only thing that is there with us is repentance for having spent our time in all these pursuits.
Kabir Sahib says, “What is the point of shedding tears after the birds have eaten all the grains of the field?” Because this repentance, which we have at the time of our death, there is nothing we can do about it. So, it is, therefore, necessary that we should have repentance, but instead of having it at the time of death, we should have that repentance now.
It is with such great fortune that we have had this precious human life. And we are indeed fortunate to get the company of the Masters and have Their Teachings, so as to make us aware of the reality.
Now, having seen the reality, having understood the reality, and having this company of the Masters, and the good fortune of this life, yet the mind still prevails on us. We are swayed by the mind. When we go in the company of the Masters and we attend the Satsangs, at that time we resolve that we will follow this. And we understand the reality, the sensitivity, around it. But, as soon as we leave that Satsang and we go back, then again, the mind prevails on us.
Therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Follow the Teachings of your Masters. And, if you follow the Teachings of your Masters, you will get the benefit of it, not only in this world but also after this. However, if you do not listen to the Teachings of the Master, you will have sorrow in this world and you will have sorrow after this also.”
Yah bau mein gothe dilwaave,
Satguru se bemukh karvaave.
The work of the mind is to make us do all kinds of karmas and push us back into this cycle of 8.4 million lives. The Path that the Masters have shown us, to get rid of the cycle of life and death and to come out of the suffering, the mind doesn't allow us to follow that. So, Mahatmas tell us, "Sit back and see. Who is happy in this world? Right from the king to the peasant, all are unhappy."
Kabir Sahib says in His Bani, “I have, with my divine vision, seen within. And I've seen all the life forms. And of everyone who is in a life form, none of them are happy, right across the full breadth of the earth. No one who has a body is happy.”
So, there are some ailments or other problems that are engulfing everybody. Some people are finding it a struggle economically. Some people are struggling psychologically. And some people are suffering from their relations.
Nanak Sahib also says, “I have also seen everywhere and everyone is unhappy. Only those people are happy who have made Naam as their essence, who have made Naam as their primary purpose in their life. Only those people are happy and satisfied. All the others are suffering. The kings may be sleeping on cots made of gold and silver and precious metals, and their treasuries may be overflowing with wealth, however, they are forever in the fire of greed and desires.” So, therefore, there is no happiness and satisfaction in education, in wealth and in governance. The satisfaction is in the Masters, in the Naam.
So, the objective of the mind is to take us away from gurubhakti and get us entangled in all the temporary, outward interests of this world.
Kaal chakr mein daal ghumaave,
Moh jaal mein bahuth fasaavein.
The duty of the mind is to ensure that the soul doesn't leave the compound of Kal and it forever remains entangled in the chaurasi here. And when we get entangled in our worldly pursuits and desires, the element of attachment is ever more strong, which is created by Maya. That is something that is extremely strong and difficult to break out of. The only way to break out of these attachments is by the help of the Masters. It is only with the Grace of the Masters that we can get out of these attachments. And, we get the Grace of the Masters by listening to and following what They have taught us.
Mitra na jaano bairi poora,
Guru bhakti se daare dhoora.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Look upon your mind as your enemy. Don't make the mistake of thinking that your mind is your friend. Your mind is your biggest enemy. There is no bigger enemy of yours in this world than your own mind.” So, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Don't listen to your mind. Listen to the Masters.” Your one True Friend is your Master, Who now also is thinking about you and Who is showering His Grace on you in this physical world. And He is also worried about you and is thinking about you beyond this.
So, therefore, Swami Ji Maharaj says, “Don't listen to your mind. He is your biggest enemy, and he is the unfailing weapon of Kal.”
If we want to break the shackles of Kal and do our devotion, then we should forever be aware of Kal. And we should follow the Teachings of the Masters, as They have been explained to us in Satsang. And we should be forever attentive and acute and awake as to what has been taught to us, and how the mind acts on various things.
Once one mahatma was walking and he knew what the power of the mind was. So, he was walking and he came to a shop, a cloth shop. And there he was talking to his own mind and he said, “I know you are great and I've heard a lot about you. Why don't you just give me a glimpse of some of your characteristics?” He said, “I'd like to get a glimpse of what you are capable of doing.”
So, mind said, “Okay, do you want to see?”
He said, “Yes, yes, show me please.”
Meanwhile, a person was coming with a jar of honey and he was trying to sell that honey in the market. So now, the mind prevailed on that mahatma. That mahatma dipped his finger in that jar of honey. And he then rubbed that honey and wiped it on the wall of that cloth shop.
As soon as he wiped that honey from his finger on the wall, immediately, with the fragrance of that honey, a fly came to eat that honey. As that fly sat there, there was a lizard nearby. And that lizard was annoyed at the thought of that fly coming there and eating that honey. So, immediately, the mind of that lizard caught on and it decided to eat that fly. While that lizard was trying to catch his prey, there was a cat of that owner there. And that fat cat saw that lizard coming down, and it thought of that as an opportunity. So, that mind also prevailed upon fat cat to catch that lizard. It started acting on that. So, that cat pounced on that lizard and caught that lizard.
Now, meanwhile, about three or four villagers had come to buy cloth in that shop, and their dog was sitting at a distance. So, as soon as that dog saw that cat jump, the mind of that dog made a jump onto the cat. As soon as that dog pounced on that cat and caught that cat, that shop owner saw this. And, immediately, he told his servants there “Bring a stick and beat that dog. It is biting my cat.” So, as soon as they brought the sticks to hit that dog, those farmers who had come, the mind prevailed upon them, and they felt, “These people are coming with sticks and hurting our dog.” So, they took out their sticks to fight with these people. They started fighting with each other with sticks. And then, whoever else would join in to stop them from fighting, the mind would prevail on them. And they would also start getting into the fight.
So, that became a big brawl and everyone started fighting with each other. That mahatma was observing his mind and what had happened. And then quickly, he said, “Quiet! Quiet, please! Okay. I have understood what your power is. Please stop. Please stop.” Then everything became quiet.
So, this is the kind of power the mind has. Therefore, mahatmas say, “The biggest enemy that you have is your mind.” So, therefore, the fight of a devotee is with his own mind. And, the mahatmas say, “If you have won over your mind, you've conquered your mind, then you have conquered all the three worlds and the owner of the three worlds, the lord of the three worlds.”
So, the mind is not some menial thing. It is really the owner of Triloki. And all the gods and goddesses, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh, all of them, come within the realm of the mind. So, the mind is very powerful.
Dhaara suth sampathi parivaara,
Aare kaam krodh ki dhaara.
This mind entangles us in all our attachments, our wife, children, their children, and so on, so forth. And that's how it gets us entangled in all of this, and gets us to waste our precious time.
So, Swami Ji Maharaj, in another Bani, has said, “The first handcuff that we have is our body, we are shackled by that. And then, after that, the second shackle around us is the wife. Because, once we get married, then we have to worry about our own body, our selves, and of our wife. So, there are then two shackles. And, when the wife and husband are there, then they think of the third. So, the child is born. That is the third shackle that you have. And, once your child is born, then you have then the grandson or granddaughter of that child, which is the next shackle. So, that way, you have the fourth shackle. And then, if they have their own children, that is a countless number of shackles that you will have. So, the soul, unfortunately, gets entangled in all these shackles. And then, it falls into the crevice of all these attachments and it is unable to come out of that.”
Mahatmas don't say that having a family, or staying in a family, is a bad thing. You can stay in a family. Even Saints have stayed in families.
Guru Nanak had two children. Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj had three children. So, there is nothing wrong in having a family. But, how do you stay in that family? You stay in the family like the lotus stays in water, or like the seagull, which dives into the water, but comes out with dry wings. So, how do you stay in the families? How do you stay in these attachments and these relationships?
An example is of a lotus. A lotus is born in a swamp. So, it has got mud and it has got water. Though it grows there, however, that mud or that water does not affect that lotus. Even if you push the lotus down into the water, it again comes up with only dry petals, as the water doesn't stay on the lotus petals. And, even if the water level increases, the lotus also goes with that water level and stays higher. That way, that water and that mud, or that swamp, doesn't affect the way the lotus remains.
Likewise, another example is of a murgabi. It is a black-colored bird, which stays on the water. And it dives into the water to catch its prey. And then, again, it stays on the water or also flies away. But, whenever it goes inside the water, it comes out with dry wings.
So, that is the way you are to stay in this life, in your relationships. You have to stay detached in your relationships, assuming that all these relationships are of your Guru, your Master, and they are not yours. So, you should not become the face of those relationships. You should always stand aside and look at those as the duty or seva that you are doing for your Master.
So, therefore, you have to stay in these relationships and be detached from these relationships. All your love and affection should be at the Feet of the Master. You should have a very clear faith that Kal and Maya have created this entire illusion. This entire thing is a delusion. And all these relationships are temporary. They're not going to be permanent. You should be very clear about this in your mind. And your faith in what your Master has said about this should be absolute. And then, you should have your love and affection at the Feet of the Master.
You should forever keep your death in front of you. That devotee who forgets that he is going to die and he's going to leave these relationships behind is making a mistake. So, a devotee is required to keep his death always in his mind to know that he is going to leave from this and leave these things here. With each breath that we take, we don't know whether we’ll take the next breath. We, oftentimes, feel that death is for others and death is a distance away and we will have enough time to do our meditations later in life. But, death is uncertain. We don't know when it will come. So, for a devotee, he should always keep this in mind, and then, not procrastinate. We don't know whether there is a tomorrow for us. So, whatever we have to do, we have to do today.
Sant Ajaib Singh Ji used to always say, “What is true and what is false? So, death is the truth. And living is false.”
Indri bhog baas barmaave,
Bhakti vivek naash karvaave.
Satguru preetam milein na jab tak,
Kabi na chootein man ke kautuk.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “The mind is not going to give up. The mind will forever want to take you away from devotion and tie you up in the vices, tie you up in all your senses and pull you out.” That is the duty of the mind. And you will not be able to control that, or gain progress or prevail on your mind until you meet the True Master. And when the True Master teaches you and gives you the initiation, by going within and manifesting the Form of the Master within, when you will become the form of Naam, when you get connected with Sound Current, only then you will be able to gain prowess and control of your mind. Until such time, your mind is always going to be drawing you outward, and you will have to be forever wary of your mind and continue to do your devotion.
Chal bal man ke kah lag baranu,
Rushi muni koyi jaane na maram.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “If I talk about the greatness of the mind and its deceit, it is very vast.” Let alone mere human beings and simple people, if we look at the mahatmas who have spent thousands of years of penance and austerity, those people with that kind of hard work to control of mind, the mind has prevailed on such people.
So, we see the history of some of these rishis and munis, how they have spent thousands of years in their austerities and how the mind has again deceived them and made them lose all of that benefit of all of that austerity and penance that they have gained. The mind has been able to destroy all of that because the mind is at the level of Brahm. All the austerities, penances, and everything that these people do are all within the realm of the mind. So, it is not possible to gain control over the mind. The only medicine to control the mind is with the Masters because They are beyond Brahm.
Tha the satguru khojo nij ke,
Bin satguru koyi chale na bach ke.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “You research well and go to a True Master because a True Master has the solution to this. He has the panacea for this, and with that help, you will be able to get a control of your mind.”
So, with the God's Grace, when we have gone through all of these millions of life forms, we get this precious human life. And then, with His Grace, we get the company of the Masters.
Tulsi Sahib says, “To get a wife, wealth, and all of the other facilities here in this world is possible for everyone. But, what is very difficult to get without the Grace is the company of the Masters.”
Satguru sam preetam nahi koyi,
Man maleen ko dhove vahi.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “You need to have that Friend Who has that strength to cleanse this mind and get you to control this mind.” So, the cure to this illness is with the Masters alone. Because the Masters know that the mind is forever in pursuit of things, which give it more and more happiness. And They get the mind connected with the Sound Current. And there is nothing that gives more happiness than being connected with the Sound Current.
So, once the mind gets connected with the Sound Current, then it kicks away all of these other attachments, all of these vices, which have been troubling it. And it gets connected and it wants to go further with that Sound Current. So, once it gets connected with the Sound Current, the mind also awakens. It realizes, “I am not the body. I am not these vices. I am not these senses. And I belong to the Brahm. I have come from the Brahm. So, I have a higher existence.” And that is why it becomes willing to go upwards, back to its true home.
So, Mahatmas say, “The mind also has luminance. And the mind has also forgotten its own luminance.” The Masters say, “You awaken, o mind, and you will see your own luminance and go back to where you have come from.”
Mera bhaag udhay hua bhaari,
Satguru ki mein hui athi pyaari.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “I'm indeed fortunate that I have got the Satguru. It is because of the Satguru that I have been able to understand all of this, and cross all of this, and be able to write this Bani like this.”
All the Banis of Swami Ji Maharaj have been written by Saligram. Now, Saligram was His disciple and he was a gurumukh. And, in those days, he was a very learned person. In those days he was a Master of Arts, an M.A. And, in those days, teachers would seldom study over tenth standard or high school. And those people who studied up to high school became teachers and they would teach. In those days, this was considered an extremely high degree that one would get.
So, all these Banis have been written by Saligram Sahib and he was the postmaster general in those days. Whenever he would go to the ashram, he would do a lot of seva in the ashram.
Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj was there also. So, the two of them were the devotees of Swami Ji Maharaj. Whenever Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj would come, he would sit for meditation in the ashram. And whenever Saligram Sahib would come, he would always do a lot of seva there. And this ashram, including the house of Swami Ji Maharaj, was at a place where one would only get saltwater. Sweet water was not there.
So, he would carry pots of water from the river, which was about one and a half kilometers away. He would keep carrying it on his head and bringing it to the ashram. And he did a lot of seva. He was a brahmin and he used to take these large pots of water up and carry them from the river.
Now, his house was also on the way. It was about a kilometer away from Swami Ji Maharaj's house but on the way to the river. So, whenever he would go, he would have to pass his own house and a lot of his relatives also would stay there. He would pass by while carrying all those pots of water and those people would often taunt him, “This person has gone berserk. He's eaten the food of a kshatriya, (speaking of Swami Ji Maharaj), and, because of that, his mind is affected, and that is why he's doing all these kinds of things.” They would taunt him like that, but he would continue to do the seva.
So, these people taunted for a few months. And after that, they felt, “This person is shameless. He's not listening to us.” And they started closing their doors and windows when he would pass by.
Saligram Ji continued to do his seva. And, since their taunts had stopped, he felt, “Perhaps they don't know that I'm still continuing to do this.” So, in order to draw their attention, he tied these bells on his foot, which the dancers tie. He tied that and then he used to carry those pots so that he would make noise whenever he would walk past them doing this seva.
So then, these relatives would open the door thinking that some person has come to dance outside. And then, when they saw Saligram, they used to feel, “This person has really gone mad and he is doing this. He is completely shameless. He doesn't know of his stature in life, and he is doing all of these things.”
Saligram Ji would continue to enjoy this and continue to do his seva. So, he loved his Master and he used to do all this seva. Swami Ji Maharaj later got a place for him next to where He stayed, and He created a place where Saligram Ji would be initiating people and continuing to teach the learnings of this Path.
He asked Jaimal Singh Ji Maharaj to go into Punjab and do his practice there and spread the learning. And He asked his brother to sit in His house and continue the Teachings.
Saligram Ji loved Swami Ji Maharaj so much that he never initiated by giving the Five Names. He used to initiate by only giving two names, which were ‘Radha Swami’. And He got salvation to so many souls only by giving these two names. So, this is because of the love of Swami Ji Maharaj. And He gave only these two names.
All these Banis have been written by Saligram Ji. And He has written ‘Radha Swami’ in all of these Banis, at the end of the Bani.
Jagath jeev kahaan jaane mahima,
Vedh kathebna jaane marmaa.
Gyaani jogi sab tak hare,
Satguru mahima koyi na vichaare.
Swami Ji Maharaj says, “All the worldly people do not know the ways of the Masters. Even the Vedas, the Puranas, and all the great Scriptures, they also, beyond a point, say ‘neti’, which means they don’t know.” They have stopped at a certain point, and they have also not been able to talk about the greatness of the Masters and the Path of the Masters.
So, though these Scriptures, these books, have been followed by others, and all the other learned people, those people also do not know the Path of the Masters.
Thaathe satguru saran pukaaru,
Aarath unaki nith prathi dhaaru.
Aarath karun prem se jab hi,
Kul parivaar thare mera tab hee.
Aarath bidhi ab karoon singaara,
Radhaoami mere hue dayaara.
Swami Ji Maharaj, in the end, says, “I'm indeed fortunate to have got the company of the Satguru, of the Master, and I have been even more fortunate that I've been a loved one of that Master. And such is the greatness of the Master that even the great Vedas and the Scriptures and all of them have been found wanting to speak more of the greatness of such Masters. And such Masters are so difficult to find. I've been indeed fortunate to have had the Grace and the company of such great Masters.” Then, He says, “I pray to my Master. I do my prayers at the Feet of the Master. And, when I do my devotion and I do my prayers at the Feet of Masters, it is not only me but my full family, which will get salvation with the Grace of the Master.”
Aarath bidhi ab karoon singaara,
Radhaoami mere hue dayaara.
He says the difference in the prayer that is done when the world does the prayers of God, is that they take their incense, they take their candles, or they take lamps, and then they go in front of their deity and they circle that there, and they pray to their deity there. And there could be a bell or something there, which they ring, or a conch, or something like that. So, these are the outward prayers that everyone is aware of.
But, how does a gurumukh do his prayer? His prayer is done by getting the attention of the soul focused at the back of the Eye Center and, thereby, manifesting his Master. When he manifests the Form of the Radiant Form of the Master within, that is his prayer to the Master. And then, automatically, the bells inside start ringing, the conch starts playing, the lamp is there. So, all of these things happen automatically. It is only about manifesting the Radiant Form of the Master within and going within from outside. So, that is the true prayer. And, by doing that prayer, the Master gets pleased.
Radhasoami param dayaala,
Kar aarath un hua nihaala.
He says there, “Radha Swami, my Satguru, is pleased with the aarti. And I have done that prayer and my Master is pleased with that. And, with that, He has blessed me, He has graced me and, not only me, but all of my family members and all the people around me, who have all got the Grace and the Blessings of the Master.”
Radhasoami param dayaala,
Kar aarath un hua nihaala.
Radhaswami.
Closing Talk 15 Aug 2016 – Morning
Whatever Time Is Possible, You Should Try To Do The Meditations And Devotion
SO, TODAY, THIS WAS THE LAST SATSANG. All of you have participated in this program and come from so many different countries, from USA, France, Hungary, and various countries all over the world. And you have come here, leaving your important occupations and other important things back home, and spent these fifteen days here. And you have participated from time to time in all the program here, in terms of the meditation, and all of the other things.
That has given me a lot of pleasure. And I bow at the Feet of Som-Ajaib and I pray to Them that They shower Their Grace on all of you, so that your devotion to Them becomes stronger and ever stronger.
So, like you have got the practice here, and you've got a habit over the last few days, you should try, when you go back home, you should try to continue to do that as far as possible. Your different occupations will have different time pressures on you. But, for whatever time is possible, as much time as possible, you should try to do the meditations and devotion as you have done here and practiced here.
Sant Ji used to often say, “Like we find it very important to give food to our body, similarly, giving the food of meditation, Simran and Dhyan, to our soul is equally important.” So, just like we are taking care of our body, we should take care of our soul.
So, you should do Simran. And if Simran is not done, if meditation is not done on a regular basis every day, then the mind becomes stronger and the soul becomes weaker. Now, as the mind becomes stronger, it will keep getting you outwardly pulled and tied up in your worldly pursuits, and take you away from devotion.
Equally important is to listen to Satsangs. So, in all our work, etc., we should take out time for doing our Satsang and our meditation.
During this fifteen days of your stay here, if any sevadar has hurt you, or you have felt bad about anything, on behalf of all of them, I beg for forgiveness. And I want all of you to go back carrying love and affection when you go back.
Radhaswami.