DISCRIMINATION
At the heart of all spiritual paths lies the requirement to develop certain skills. These are of crucial importance. Properly applied, they enable the disciples of Truth to transform themselves from self-centered personalities into inclusive, love-bearing, light-giving, heart-serving members of the human family.
One of these crucial skills is the ability to discriminate. The seeds of discrimination are actually sown at a very early age. Our experience in infancy teaches us to distinguish between the pleasant and the unpleasant. Later on, in childhood, we learn the difference between what we, rather simplistically, call right and wrong, and as we approach adulthood and personal maturity, we learn to appreciate that there are finer distinctions still, for example, between what is good and right and what is even better.
Throughout history, and especially in our present time, outstanding women and men have emerged. They have found their way through the maze of these of these finer distinctions, and discovered the higher values of the good of the whole, of love, and of sacrificial living. They have thus been able, often against tremendous odds to cast light on and bring love to their times and change conditions for the better. Although outer activity is important in achieving this, and this is what people normally focus on, discrimination in the realm of ideas, vision and values, that has enabled these people to exert such a strongly benevolent influence.
A very useful exercise for us all to engage in regularly is to take a step back from things, and look with loving detachment at the state back from things, and look with loving detachment at the state of consciousness of humanity and at world events. We then perceive a dual picture. On the one hand, we see a bewildered humanity, governed largely by the values of material self-interest, experiencing a chaotic world and evidencing an often heart-breaking anxiety over present conditions and fear for the future. On the other hand, we can see a growing number of groups and individuals world-wide who are developing the skill of spiritual discrimination and using this to embody the energies of light and love in new and creative ways as in our own Nirankari Mission. They are reformulating the timeless spiritual values into meaningful signposts on the path that we need collectively to tread in the crisis period in which we are all living.
Let us rejoice at these many and marvelous examples of the potential for good in all of us. Let us also redouble our effort to achieve a sound sense of discrimination and thus increasingly embody the energies of light and love and spiritual values in our own lives.
HOPE FOR DESPAIR
Our Mission always advocates respect for the cultural, religious and ideological values of others and tolerance of different beliefs and opinions. It is based on the recognition that all people on the earth constitute one vast human family, an interdependent whole. While recognizing the differences in faiths and beliefs, the Nirankari Mission seeks to emphasize the basic teachings that all the religions uphold in common –seeking to build bridges and to demolish exclusivism. It is for this reason that people from different religious and spiritual backgrounds have joined this great spiritual Mission.
Working together, they invoke the light, the love and the spiritual direction so desperately needed by humanity today in the struggle to build a world of unity, harmony and goodwill. Also our Mission may be seen as an ideal way of helping others to surmount difficult situations. There are many people in the world today who feel they cannot face another day; life is so empty and devoid of happiness that it is just not worth going on, or that things, that are happening, are so dreadful and so out of control that they consider taking their own lives! I should imagine that most Asians have never felt like that because they can expect the support of their families. But what of the millions of people in the West who have no one to turn to. It does help to talk –voicing one’s dread, loneliness and despair –and we, as Nirankaris, have a golden opportunity to show to the people that there is a better way to try and solve problems, a way that asks nothing strange of anyone, but a way that is open to all regardless of who we are or what we are. So, I feel, if we could bring the lonely and frustrated people to one of our Sangats or congregations and let them see the joy and happiness of our Nirankari Brotherhood, It would be of great benefit to them. It is also a way of spreading the Mission as Baba Ji wishes us to.
One of the greatest blessings of our present-day is that God has bestowed upon us by sending Baba Ji to lead people from the darkness of ignorance into the light of truth and righteousness. The point that I am trying to focus on is the fact that it is not what which is around you –material creation -, although it may be important, but what is more important is that which is inside you –soul –what makes you think the way you do, or feel the way you do. Why do some perceive things so stark, only the black or the white, not giving thought to the fact that there are shades of gray which go to make those colors? Whatever surrounds us in time, place or circumstances, is influenced by our inner personality, by our own souls. Our Mission gives an enlightened and broad and not a rigid and closed outlook on life. So, if we do come across any person who would like to come to our Sangat (Congregation), we have nothing to loss; he has everything to gain.
A NIRANKARI
To be a Nirankari is to belong to a family of men and women who are dedicated and active in the work of human welfare, both spiritually and materially.
God-consciousness is the purpose of all acts –Sangat (congregation), Simran (God-consciousness) and Seva (selfless service)-the Trinity. Sangat and Simran help in communicating with the Lord and Seva is a productive activity which provides the basis of our relationship to one another.
Do you ever find it difficult to talk about the potential effectiveness of goodwill and world Brotherhood to the so-called ‘realists’ and ‘down to earth’ people who can see little hope accomplishing much of spiritual idealism? May be this is because of bad spiritual upbringing, or, in fact, being taught an entirely wrong concept of religion i.e. religious fundamentalists who insist on a set of meaningless rituals, and have a very narrow view of life.
The idea of prayer is familiar to everyone. There is hardly a human being who has not at sometime in his life framed an intense desire in spoken words addressed to some Deity. The stresses and strains of war brought many people, who had never prayed before, into situations for which there was no possible human remedy. They prayed, and they spoke about it because their prayers proved effective. They "got results", sometimes much to their surprise, and always to their enrichment.
We, the Nirankari devotees, do not wait for tragedies to occur before we seek God’s help. No, we rather constantly have the thought of God’s blessing, protection and guidance. He is our friend, rather than someone to go to in a crisis.
To belong to the Nirankari Mission means choosing to be the devotees of God –spreading His Love, light and Wisdom to all and bringing peace and harmony everywhere.
THE MISSION OF PEACE
The benefits of becoming a devotee of the Nirankari Mission are many. It enhances the ability to effectively cope with the rapid changes and it opens up a whole new vista of inner peace. It embraces all aspects of one’s being –spirit, mind and body:
Spirit
-Enhances sense of well-being.
-Finding sense of purpose.
-Understanding one’s self.
-Ability to face challenges.
Mind
-Freedom from anxiety and fear.
-Tranquility and happiness.
-Greater control of thoughts.
-Ability to imbibe positive feelings.
Body
-Rare gift of God.
-Vehicle to realize the prime aim of life.
-Means of serving the humanity.
Affinity comes from seeing the virtues, qualities and beauty of each human being, each religion, each culture and each race. With a positive vision and attitude we can rise above the base feelings and surmount all obstacles. Our inner resources and the abundant natural treasures of this planet can then be used for creating a better world. The more one holds on to the tenets of our Mission, the sooner the world shall be a place of peace, bliss and happiness.
The Nirankari Mission recognizes no limits, no borders, no distinctions of faith and creed, high and low, ‘yours and mine’: all are treated as equal and alike, which is how God sees each and every one of us.
Our Mission is a mission of peace, and peace is fundamental condition for human progress and prosperity: without it, the world could not subsist, much less progress.
THOUGHTS ON TOLERANCE
Tolerance is love in action, deliberately and creatively applied and disseminated.
We learn to tolerate situations by eliciting their causes by understanding by vision, by healing an emotional wound, by educating and in innumerable other ways at all levels from the physical to the spiritual.
Paradoxically, True tolerance is a powerful tool for promoting our own growth. It may be seen as a live demonstration for transformation. We are transformed by the acts of showing tolerance and we contribute to the transformed by the acts of showing tolerance and we contribute to the transformation of others by what we are showing; and caring could take the place of conflict, if we showed tolerance openly to one another.
Perhaps also we could try to understand and respect other’ cultures and ideas. Much hurt has been done through violence against religious ideologies, yet it has been said that all religions, like the spokes of a wheel. Lead to a central source, when different methods of prayers and meditations can be seen not as insurmountable barriers but as expressions of the many paths that lead to One.
Everyone has a chance in today’s world to show tolerance. Our world faces many crisis, pollution and exploitation of the environment, the threat of nuclear conflict, racial and ethnic tensions, economic instability, competing political and religious ideologies, drug and alcohol addiction, child abuse, crime, homelessness and a we face in our world demand co-operation among the peoples of diverse backgrounds. True tolerance calls for compassion and a gentle attitude of love and concern; there is no room for accusatory anger and arrogance.
Tolerance should take into account that different people have different needs and we must meet their needs by adapting to different situations. Tolerance calls for sensitivity: listen and questions before by (give) witness. Be sensitive, do not ridicule. Be fair, be patient, be humble. Never evangelize with an attack on others as being "wrong" thereby setting yourself up as "right. Such an approach only serves to put people on the defensive, which very rarely results in a conversation.
Never think of evangelizing as "winning the argument". Narrow-mindedness, intolerance and accusatory anger will only discredit oneself. To quote part of the Bible, like Paul, "find something to command". Paul said, "I see that in every way you are very religious". To quote Jesus Christ: "Without love all our efforts to reach others will be ineffective." God has not called us to be self-righteous, but to be sensitive to people needs, to listen to them, and accept them as they are.
The most effective ‘ministry’ (propagation) comes out of personal relationships when we have built a relationship with any person who has a different view point, our witness is more likely to be well received. So we should practice tolerance by listening reverentially as did Jesus and Paul.
Men organize themselves into separate groups, nationalities, religions believing that his is supreme and worth belonging to, and all others’ are unworthy and false. So, they become divided against one another and come into conflict and finally flight and try to destroy each other.
People are afraid only because they do not understand. They want a guide they can follow, and because they cannot find one, they feel insecure and clutch only at the teaching, which satisfies their own limited aspiration and not that of mankind as a whole.
Religious, political and philosophical organization can offer their members’ comfort and security; they can improve behavior and conduct and achieve many good things in life, but they cannot dispense Truth. The truths of the world are many and varied and each has its merits and shortcomings, but tolerance at all times should be practiced. To accept life as it comes, to work happily with people as they are and handle our affairs on the basis of reality, is a major step forward in tolerance.
Most people live in the world of fantasy created by their own passions and ambitions, and non-acceptance of the reality is the main reason why their life-force becomes misdirected into petty hatred and intolerance
To sum up, humility is as important as tolerance, for unless the ego is humbled and yoked to the service of the self, the will is likely to lend its power to the ego and cause much trouble and hurt. That is why our guide, Baba Hardev Singh Ji, stresses tolerance in all spheres of life.