By: S.S. Bassan, P.Eng.

 Congratulations to those human beings who, with the divine blessings of a True Master, have been able to realise God. I pray, they may keep on enjoying the bliss of God-knowledge. To maintain a state of blissfulness at all times, a clear understanding of the message of Truth, feeling of gratitude to Almighty God and the Messenger, company of the enlightened souls and rendering of selfless service to the humanity are some of the guidelines to be followed.

Some holy scriptures reveal that a soul has to go through a cycle of 8.4 million forms of life prior to achieving human birth. It will not be possible for anyone to count all these millions of life forms or calculate the span of each life. However, it may take millions of years to complete a cycle before one is born as a human being again. This should sound an alarm in anybody’s mind. The Holy Scriptures also points out that the prime aim of human life is to realise God and thereby get the soul released from the agony of various life cycles. Human beings have no control over the time of birth, place of birth, choice of parents, body-structure, colour of skin, place, time and circumstances of death, etc. The more we think about this, the more perplexing it becomes. In any case, now that God has given us human life - a healthy body, a sound mind and worldly wealth - we should always he grateful to Him for these generous gifts.

 Need of a True Master for God-Realisation

The planet Earth is only a tiny creation in the entire universe. Human beings, numbering over 4 billion, are scattered all over the earth. Everyone is preoccupied with his own pursuit, with only small fraction of the population paying attention towards fulfilling the principal aim of human life. Those who, wish to pursue this lofty aim of life, will have to take the next step that is to find a True Master. The search for such a personality is by no means an easy task. The holy scriptures clearly explain that God-Realisation is not possible unless we meet a True Master and that such a Master is always present in the world.

Gratefulness to the Friend who introduces us to the True Master

In normal course of worldly dealings in everyday life, we feel obliged to somebody who did something for us and we wish to convey our feelings of gratitude to him. For example, a person was drowning in a lake and just as he was going to breathe his last, a passer by suddenly rescued him. Naturally, the drowning person shall always be thankful to this passer-by. Similarly, in search of the Supreme Knowledge, a seeker has to knock at so many doors, till finally he finds someone who has already found the True Master. The former feels ever indebted to the latter for leading him to the True Master.

In my own case, right from my childhood, I was fascinated by the lives and history of the past prophets and their disciples. At the same time, I felt disappointed that I was not born in their times to attain their blessings in person and prayed to God to bless me with such an opportunity. Finally, my prayers were answered in the year 1957 when I was blessed with God-knowledge by Baba Avtar Singh Ji and later on enjoyed the bountiful blessings of Baba Gurbachan Singh Ji.

Gratefulness to the True Master

When a seeker humbly approaches the True Master for God-realisation, the knowledge of God or Braham Gyan is imparted to him instantly. The seeker’s mind is enlightened with the divine wisdom, and the soul, after experiencing millions of years of separation due to ignorance, finds peace and harmony in communion with God, also called Nirankar. The True Master guides his followers to lead pious and peaceful lives in all situations. This has always been the basis of the teachings of all the past True Masters.

It is worth mentioning that every word and action of the True Master is directed towards ensuring the spiritual and worldly well being of all human beings. He is not here to found a new religion or sect but, instead, wishes to enlighten us by explaining the relationship of the soul (child) with the Over Soul (Father), thus creating an environment of better mutual understanding, harmony, peace and love in the world. The underlying secret of unity among the human beings having diverse diet and dress, colour and creed, faith and belief, is the realisation that despite such diversities all of them are related to one and the same Universal Soul. This being the basic ideal which the Nirankari Mission, also known as Universal Brotherhood Mission, upholds and propagates .

Keeping Company of Enlightened Souls

In order to maintain professional competence, professionals apart from performing various duties toward the society must also keep in touch with their fellow-professionals. Similarly, the devotees should keep company of fellow - devotees – the enlightened souls – to maintain a blissful state of mind.

Performing Selfless Service

Any service performed with a selfish motive is not a true service and is more like paid labour. Such a service will not result in a happy state of mind. The hallmark of a true saint or devotee is the pleasure he or she derives from selfless service rendered according to the wishes of the True master.

Humble Prayer for the Humanity

The darkness of ignorance can be dispelled only through the Light of Divine Knowledge, about which it is said in Holy Gita:

I shall unfold to you in its entirely this wisdom (Knowledge of God in its absolute formless aspect) along with knowledge of the qualified aspect of God (both in form and without form), having known which nothing else remains yet to be known in the world. (VII:2)

This knowledge [of both the Nirguna (Formless) and Sagun (in form)] of Divinity is a sovereign science, a sovereign secret, supremely holy, most excellent, directly enjoyable, attended with virtue, very easy to practice and imperishable. (IX:2)

Needless to say, every sincere student wishes to excel in his class, every player to win the match and every devoted child to be the darling of his parents. In the same way, an earnest student of the divine science would aim to be dear to the True Master. The traits of such a disciple are summarised in the following verse of the Holy Gita:

He who is free from malice towards all beings, friendly and compassionate, rid of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ balanced in joy and sorrow, forgiving by nature, ever contented and mentally united with Me, nay, who has subdued his mind, senses and body, has a firm resolve, and has surrendered his mind and reason to Me – that devotee of Mine is dear to Me . (XII: 13-14)

Obviously, such saints and devotees are dedicated to human uplift, human well being and human redemption:

Saints should not simply wish well of others, rather prove this by their practical life. As fire gives heat and water coolness, saints should, naturally, strive for the greatest good of the humanity.

- Baba Hardev Singh Ji

To be able to imbibe these traits, one has to follow and practise the Five Pledges of the Nirankari Mission in conjunction with the aids of God-remembrance (Simran), Selfless Service (Seva) and Congregation (Sangat).

Receipe for Eternal Bliss

This, may friends, is the receipe for a blissful godly life for a human being. Pray, in pursuit of worldly possessions and position, we may not distract from the godly path. It is rightly said: "It is not over, till it is finally over."

May every human being fulfil the principal aim of human life by realising God. This is the key to enjoying the Bliss of God-realisation.