Pearls of Wisdom
- Dr. Iqbaljit Rai
California, USA
‘Unfortunate is the land that needs heroes’ is a statement that the great scientist Galileo makes in a German play written on his life. Here the word heroes stand for those who push people into war and battle. Political leaders, military generals and revolutionary commanders fall into this category. They arouse our monetary and material instincts.
As a result, human beings engross themselves so much in the affairs of the world, the pursuit of monetary gain, that they have no time to ‘stand and stare’, as regretted by the poet Wordsworth in the 19th Century. Unfortunately, the human race becomes totally preoccupied with materialistic pursuits – to grab more and more wealth, take from others, and gloat over those apparent achievements.
Instead of human beings, they become breathing machines, whose higher purpose of life is lost. On the other hand, there are so called religious persons so consumed by their fanaticism that they have no regard for human lie and property. Acts of terror throughout the world are often a disturbing characteristic of their misguided intent.
In the hierarchy of religious mentors and spiritual guides, the Prophets appear at the highest scale. They walk upon the earth from time to time, with a mission to correct the imbalance between the material and the spiritual. Their appearance may be likened to the rising of the sun, dispelling the darkness that is spread all around.
The Sikh savant, Bhai Gurdasji had this to say about Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s advent: Satguru Nanak appeared on earth, shining light over a world that had been lost in fog and darkness’. This appearance happens, at regular intervals, at different times and in different places. Whenever the Satguru is manifest, at whatever time or place, his mission is the same. That is, to redirect the people from the mundane to the sublime view of life - from the worldly to the spiritual.
This is what 25 centuries ago, the Buddha did in Northern India. A few centuries on, the Christ took on this mantle, in the land of Israel. In the fifteenth century, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s mission was not different. He called to all the people to arise and awake, be one with divinity and lead a life filled with knowledge, love and grace.
The languages in which they spoke their sermons were not the same. Buddha spoke in Pali, Christ addressed the multitudes in Hebrew and Nanak’s songs and discourses were in Punjabi/Gurmukhi. Their message, in these diverse languages, was the same. It struck the very heart of the masses. So profound was the impact of this, that disciples were transformed from materially oriented beings into spiritually oriented beings.
This guidance shows us the right path. It changes us from malfunctioning beings, into healthy and robust individuals. What would our universe be like without our Prophets and Spiritual Masters? Perhaps, as Guru Arjun Dev Ji says, the universe would regress into dhundulkare – utter darkness – that it was before Divinity appeared on the earth.
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