European Tour - 2003
- by: Sandeep Khinda
After an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, His Holiness Baba Hardev Singh Ji left for Europe on the 20th of May.
The first stop on the 20 day Salvation tour was the city of Rome. After a warm welcome by the saints of Italy, His Holiness traveled south to Terracina, where a large congregation was to be held the following day.
In his sermon His Holiness stated that: The human life is most precious because it is in this form that we are able to meet our Maker. To waste this life away in the pursuit of materialistic advance is not only foolish but dangerous, for Salvation can only be attained whilst living in this form. To make people aware of the value of our existence saints and sages have continually stressed upon the importance of this life, and the potentiality of the Human form.
The next station after Terracina was Aresso. On the 22nd of May another large congregation took place. This was attended by many new devotees who had experienced God-Realisation in the past few months. In his discourse His Holiness declared that: In the world today there are many religious people who say that they have deep love for God Almighty. Is it possible to love God and shun his children? No, to truly love God one must have love, compassion and respect for his creation, for his Image!
On the 23rd morning His Holiness left Aresso, in the early hours, for Milan which was a six hour car journey away. His Holiness was to visit one of the cities exhibitions, about electrical goods and lighting facilities Baba Ji was particularly interested to explore street lighting options, with the intent to find suitable lights for use in the Sarover Complex in Delhi.
After spending some 4 hours walking through the various halls and seeing some of the best designed lights in the world His Holiness commented. this exhibition is all about electrical components and electricity. It is fascinating to see how Mankind has developed and used electricity in so many ways; it can compare to the workings of God Almighty. The entity is One, but it has been diversified in so many ways.
Observing further, Baba Ji said, In essence all the lights have the same role to play, to illumine dark areas, but why do we pay particular attention to some lights over others? We pay more attention to the designs which do nothing to obstruct the light. We are not admiring the lights because of the fancy shapes that they have, No! We admire them because of the reflective power they possess. The role of the lights is to provide guidance to those who are lost. In the same way an individual who has been illumined with the light of God does nothing to obstruct the light. He simply reflects the light in his every action and deed, thus becoming a beacon for all of humanity.
His Holiness then traveled onto Bergamo, where hundreds of devotees were eagerly awaiting his arrival. On his arrival they danced and song songs of praise. Seeing this love and warmth, Baba Ji said, after traveling for six hours and then seeing the exhibition in Milan for a further 4 hour I was feeling so tired, but when I arrived amongst you devotees the energy and the joy you have, has made my own feeling of tiredness simply evaporate away. May God Almighty always bless you with this energy and zeal.
On the following day His Holiness traveled onto Roverbella. Many stops were made en-route to visit and bless the devotees who lived in the small villages which lined the route. Stops were made at: Brecia, Cremona and Piadna. His Holiness Said, even if a single devotee of the Lord resides in a town or a village, that place begins to flourish with the love that is possessed and spread by that individual.
Baba Ji blessed the congregation with his message of Unity in Diversity, he then went onto announce that a permanent Bhawan (worship place) was to be built in Italy, and that the Nirankari Mission was to registered, as it is in all the other countries of the world. The congregation was elated with this news.
Rover Bella was the last station in Italy. His Holiness traveled on to Austria, and on the 27th of May he addressed the huge congregation that had gathered in the newly constructed Bhawan in Innsbruck. Due to a large number of native Austrians in the congregation some of the program was held in the German language, and the discourses of His Holiness was also translated for their benefit. Baba Ji said, the presence of a tiny amount of oil is all that is needed to contaminate a vessel of water. In the same way the tiniest of evil tendencies of the mind is enough to bring one to his downfall, irrespective of the good virtues which he may possesses.
On the 28th of May, His Holiness traveled to Klienversatal. En-rute, the entourage stopped in Kempton to visit a young devotee who was recovering from a bone marrow transplant. Seeing the strength of character the youngster possessed His Holiness said, many times when we are faced with adverse conditions we tend to lese faith, here we are seeing how a young child is not only helping himself with his strength of faith, but is helping his parents come to terms with his illness. The same evening, His Holiness blessed the congregation in Klienversatal. He said, a life lived in devotion to God is the greatest of all lives. A devotee who leads a life in such a way lives in accordance to the Will of the Divine. He observes HIS will as his own will, thus becomes the embodiment of surrender.
Frankfurt, Kohl, Mainz Dόsseldorf were the next stations on this tour. Kohl was visited for the first time by Baba Ji. The spectacular cathedral was visited, and Baba Ji expressed his happiness to the devotees of Kohl, saying that despite the small number of devotees living in Kohl, it was good to see that congregations were being held regularly, and that the devotees were making an effort to travel to neighbouring towns to attend large congregations.
Dόsseldorf was to host the largest congregation of the tour. Devotees traveled from all over Europe to attend. In his sermon His Holiness shared with the devotees the events which had occurred on the tour thus far. He went on to say, by living in constant awareness of God Almighty, a devotee attains true happiness and bliss. In this blissful state a devotee has no time to see the short comings of others; rather he tries to make himself more complete by imbibing the virtues that he feels he lacks. By living such a life he becomes an example to all.
Berlin was the last station in Germany. Before the congregation His Holiness had an opportunity to see what remains of the berlin wall. In the evening His Holiness said in his discourse, a barrier or a wall is first created in the mind of an individual, it is then created in the physical world. To remove such barriers it stands to reason that they must be removed from the minds of man first! Somebody had scribbled a motif which read, the world is too small for walls, and this is so true today. The world has shrunk in terms of communication and transport, but distance remain in terms of living as one family of the human race.
From Berlin, His Holiness tool a flight to Barcelona, Spain. On arrival the entourage boarded a bus and traveled fro 4 hours to the city of Valencia where a congregation had been arranged in a Hindu Mandir. In his discourse His Holiness said that a luxurious home is still an uncomfortable place to be if love is absent; true unconditional love is only possible if humans today become one with the source of such love. The only source of this love is God Almighty, and it should be the aim of every person to realize and become one with God:. Know One, Believe in One, Become One.
On June the 4th His Holiness made his way back to Barcelona. A congregation had been scheduled to be held on the 5th. The congregation in Barcelona was one of the largest in history, in this region. His Holiness gave the following message: Hatred has always created distance, whereas love begets closeness and unity. The role of religion is to unite humanity with love, and to dispel discriminations with unity. The state of the world and recent events tell a very different story. Today, religion which is a unifying force has now become the biggest point of divide! Mon must stop thinking in terms of his religion or my religion, and start to realize that there is only one religion, which is the existence of a Formless God, who is known by many names and is worshipped in many modes.
Barcelona was to be the last station of this Salvation tour of Europe, but with his benevolence and his generosity, Baba Ji extended his tour for 4 days. He would travel and hold congregations in three different countries on 3 consecutive days.
His Holiness left Barcelona for Paris by car. A distance of 1200kms was covered in 11 hours. One the 7th of June a congregation was held in the University of Paris. Summing up the congregation His Holiness said, today there has been a need for translators because many of us are not fluent in French and many of the locals do not understand Hindi, but there is one universal language which does not require any translation, and that is the language of love. Today anything can be achieved if one uses love.
In the evening His Holiness departed from Paris for Brussels. On his arrival he was given a warm welcome, and blessed the congregation which had gathered at the home of one of the devotees.
Amsterdam was to host the last congregation in Europe. In his discourse His Holiness reflected on the tour as a whole and once again stressed upon the need for love and unity in such a divide world. He illustrated that an enlightened being is like a sweet smelling rose, who provides a pleasant fragrance for all, whereas a person who harbours ill and holds discriminations does nothing but pollute the atmosphere.
After 3 weeks, visiting 7 countries and traveling in excess of 8000km the Salvation Tour of Europe was concluded.