Enlightening the World 2 by Khem Raj Chadha

CHAPTER - III

AUSTRALIA
(May 13-15 & 18-24, 1995)

The divine couple landed in Melbourne in Australia in the early hours of May 13. The mercury showed the sudden fall from 31 degree celsius in Kuala Lumpur to 5 degree celsius here. As stated above, Satguru Baba Hardev Singh Ji was the first Head of the Sant Nirankari Mission to visit this continent. In spite of terrible cold, Baba Ji was given a warm welcome. The saints at the airport were led by President of the Sant Nirankari Mandal in Australia, Rev. Chanbir Singh Chadha, Rev. Shashi Grover, Vice-President, Rev. Vinod Ahluwalia, Secretary, Rev.Davinder Singh, a very enthusiastic follower of the Mission, and several others were present. They had come all the way from Sydney to receive the holy couple. The local saints included Rev. Harbhajan Singh Panchhi with his respected father and other members of his family, Rev. Himtu Ram and his sons Rev. Radha Krishan, Rev. Ramesh and Rev. Mahesh. Besides, two young Nirankaris, Rev. Robin Mitra and Rev. Bhushan Khanna were also present at the airport.

Even though the Australian saints were not expected to have any previous experience to host a spiritual visit of His Holiness, they gave no impression howsoever that they were new to the task. They had made independent arrangements for the stay of the divine couple. They had put up a reception tent outside and the security arrangements were also as formal as they should be.

The lunch on May 13 was hosted by the young saint, Rev. Ramesh. He had invited a number of his relatives, friends and neighbours. The get-together was quite impressive. The atmosphere was quite gay but sober, giving definite impression of its being softened by the sublime air of spirituality. Every host and the guest touched the True Master�s feet and received a loving response in 'Dhan Nirankar' with a smile, that appeared to be satisfying each one of them personally. Then the get-together turned into a mini Sangat which was blessed by Baba Ji with a brief discourse.

A similar programme was held in the evening at the residence of Rev. Inder Jit, Chief of Phantom India Restaurant. He had also invited a number of guests, including several Australians, to share the pleasure of Baba Ji's visit to his place. A brief sangat was held before the dinner.

Earlier, on their way to the residence of Rev. Inder Jit, the divine couple consecrated their restaurant.

The enthusiasm of the saints in Melbourne was marked by the Nirankari Samagam they organised in the famous East Bentaliah Hall on May 14. They decorated the Hall as tastefully as a family would like to do on the happiest occasion. Perhaps the saints had become conscious of the fact that they were preparing for a Samagam that would remain a landmark in the history of the Sant Nirankari Mission- the first such Samagam to be held in Australia. So they wanted it to shine as glamorously as possible. Their spirit of service was speaking for itself indeed.

The Samagam was attended by about 200 people. Although the majority of the gathering was of Punjabi origin, their Australian friends also turned up in a good number. This humble being had the privilege of conducting the programme. The devotional and a few speeches presented by the saints were ample to show their faith in the Almighty and devotion to the True Master. Baba Ji complimented them for the opportunity they had provided t him to visit Australia and said:

Saints, on your repeated calls and with the grace of this Supreme Lord, we are meeting in this part of the world for the first time. It is a great pleasure to see you all and listen to the views expressed by you during this Satsang (congregation). In fact these are the feelings have always been expressed by saints and seers since ages. They wished every human being to have the same. Whichever part of the world or culture a man might belong to,if he has the feelings of love, tolerance and compassion, he would be a blessing for earth, a boon to the mankind.

The great spiritual masters always reminded man that he is the crown of creation by God. But he seems to have forgotten his exalted position. Like the animals he is living in ignorance. Since God has blessed him with the power of reasoning, he must use the same and enrich his life with the right feelings.

Unfortunately, when we look around, we find man bereft of such feelings. Instead of love, tolerance and compassion, man today is living in hatred, discord and enmity. Not to speak of tolerance, people do not want even to see others. As a result man is neither himself happy and nor he is able to make others happy. A person with such adverse feelings, whatever age he appeared in, was always a source of trouble for others. It may be Satyug (golden age), Treta (silver age), Dwapar ( bronze age) or Kalyug ( iron age), the man with such feelings was never considered great. In fact it is not the age or time that makes man great; it is the other way round. Had it been so, these great ages should have had to mention the names of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Jesus Christ, Hazrat Mohammed and from Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj to Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj only. But we find that people with adverse feelings too lived side by side. We find Ravana, Duryodhana, Kansa, Hrinyakashyap; we find those who crucified noble men, gave them poison, asked them to grind the corn and even those who assassinated them. Thus it is proved that ages or times had no importance of their own; it is the men with saintly qualities, the devotees of God, the Gurus and prophets who made them important. Otherwise, men with contrary feelings too lived in all ages.

History has already proved that such feelings failed to win any praise for Ravana, Kansa, Hrinyakashyap and other such people because they always caused harm to others. Even then, if we follow their path, shall it testify that we are really wise people or we are using our sense of wisdom? Who will appreciate if we prefer to be appreciated if we prefer to follow Ravana and Kansa ignoring Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Jesus Christ, Guru Nanak and so on? We do exercise this wisdom while choosing worldly things and we go in for only such objects as are likely to benefit us, produce some gain. But when it comes to the question of choosing the right kind of human life, we fumble, go astray and keep on moving in the wrong direction. In worldly matters, we all would like to progress, to prosper; and we do know what kind of steps we have to take for the same. Today, if we find people born in India settled in other countries, it is because of this consideration, they desire to make progress. It is with the same consideration that within India we find people migrating from villages to cities. Every employee, even an officer, working in a company would like to be promoted. Every man in business would like to increase his income, increase his turn over, expand his enterprise. In short, man in every field of material life would like to touch new heights. But when it comes to spiritual life, we find him moving backward only. Whereas he should have aspired to become an angel and from angel tried to be one with God, we find him not even able to hold himself as man in the real sense. He is degrading himself to the level of an animal. It is just like an officer seeking reversion as a head-clerk or a head-clerk wanting to be made a clerk and so on. This is the condition of the man today. Instead of going up, he is moving towards downfall.

Saints, the great spiritual masters taught only such principles as, if acted upon, would bring man honour, raise his status, make him happy and enable him to become instrumental in making others happy. Here ( in the Sant Nirankari Mission) also whether the medium used is a devotional song, speech or poem inside the congregation or it is selfless, untiring service outside, the object is only to infuse the feelings, to promote the principles upheld by great men of spirituality.

We must know the Truth, realise God. Only then we shall understand that as compared to the worldly assets and achievements which merely cause degradation, we must treat this Truth as the highest, the best and the most important aspiration which will certainly enable us to get rid of the hostile feelings of malice and hatred and take us above the craze for worldly wealth. In case we fail to attach importance to this eternal truth and remain obsessed with contrary feelings, we shall continue to move in the opposite direction.

This is, of course, a great human service. It was with this spirit that great masters advised man to get associated with the Truth, be united with God. They told him: By this, your soul will stand blessed and you will see God dwelling in every living being. You will, then get rid of the feelings of hatred and rise above the narrow-minded considerations of caste, community and language etc. that cause harm only. Since you are not familiar with God, you have such perceptions as produce oppression and strengthen your ego. Once you are spiritually enlightened, all your misconceptions will go. You will also acquire the same vision that was possessed by saints. They declared:

AWAL ALLAH NOOR UPAYA,
KUDRAT KE SAB BANDE;
EK NOOR TE SAB JAG UPJAYA,
KAUN BHALE, KO MANDE.

LOGA BHARAM NA BHULOH BHAI;
KHALIQ KHALQ, KHALQ MAH KHALIQ,
POOR RAHYO SARB THAI

They saw every human soul as the spark of the same Super Soul-God. They saw the image of God in every human body. They advised others too to remember this. They firmly believed that:

SABHAY GHAT RAM BOLE, RAMA BOLE,
RAM BINA KO BOLE RE.

God dwells in each and every heart. And there is only one God. God, the creator of those who wear a cap is not different from the one for those who don a turban. The creator of the English speaking people is the same who created the Punjabi, Hindi or Arabic speaking people. All belong to the Almighty. Meaning of the word �all� is well-known. While using this word, we do not make any exception. We wish well for the mankind as such.

Unfortunately, what is happening today is that we utter the word �all� alright, but do not accept it in practice, whereas great masters declare:

SANTAN KE MAN RAHAT HAI,
SAB KE HIT KI BAAT;
GHAT GHAT DEKHEN ALAKH KO,
PUCHHEN JAAT NA PAAT.

Saints always prayed for the welfare of all. They never discriminated between one man and the other on account of caste. We, of course, recite these words, we repeat what the great masters have said. For example, we do read these words of Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj:

MANAS KI JAAT SABHAY
EKAHI PAHCHANBO.

Treat the entire mankind as one. The matter of regret, however, is that mankind has divided into castes not only itself, but even places of worship. Suppose there are four different castes; they will have four different places of worship. And interestingly, at all the four places they will declare: 'Treat the entire mankind as one'. Does it not prove our ignorance? Is it not a sad commentary on the way of our thinking, our perceptions?

Today here effort is being made to make man realize that without knowing God, any amount of meditation, worship, recitation of holy scriptures, etc. would amount to the wasting of life time. In this way, he will not be able to get rid of his misapprehensions and shed hatred. No doubt, we have to know what the great spiritual masters said. Whether they lived in palaces or humble cottages, whether they belonged to backward rural areas or advanced countries, whatever they said aimed at the welfare of mankind.

Here, that is what we pray for. Let every human being be blessed with such vision so that everyone else appears their own: there is no feeling of hatred, every human being becomes loveable, deserves to be revered and proves a blessing to the earth. Let everybody be adorned with the qualities of man. Only then we can known as saints. Mere recitation of holy hymns etc. would not make us saints. A saint is not known by his robes, either. So, let us try to inculcate human qualities and join the category of saints. Only this will prove that we are wise. Otherwise, life is going, none can stop it. That is why it is said:

AUSAR BEETO JAAT HAI

O� man, this opportunity, the human life, is moving fast towards its end. You must be cautious and live like a man. If you fail to love your fellow human beings, how can you love God?

Let us pray that every part of this earth is adorned by people who have in them the humane qualities, the qualities of man. Wherever we make others happy, we uplift the fallen, we have humanity. The place becomes beautiful, full of fragrance. We have not to look for heaven beyond the sky; we shall convert this very earth into heaven. And every great master tells us to follow this path of humanity, if we wish to be blessed. The holy Bible says:

BLESSED ARE THE PEACE MAKERS.

Blessed are those who are always working for establishing peace on this earth and not those who are spreading hatred, sowing the seeds of hatred. Blessed will be those who are always working to bring man closer to man and establish such situations where all are loving each other, where all are boosting the feelings of universal brotherhood.

So saints, that is what has been taught by all the prophets, sages and seers since times immemorial. We have to adopt these feelings and by doing so, we will always get true happiness. It has been pointed out, �We are such advanced people that we have now guided missiles and misguided man.� Man should not be misguided; he should be guided. And that guidance should not be from the Satan; it should be from the saints and prophets, so that this whole human kind may always be moving forward and gaining greater and greater heights.

I pray that Nirankar may bless each and everybody, so that we shed all the hatred and break all the barriers. One wall which was symbol of hatred, which was created in Berlin, when it came down, everybody felt happy. Similarly, wherever there are barriers, they have to be pulled down so that everybody can live a peaceful life, a life based on human fraternity. May this earth become a heaven!�

In the afternoon, the saints took Baba Ji and Pujya Mata Ji to Phillip Island, about 120 kms. drive from Melbourne through picturesque landscape. The island is known for penguin parade at the time of sunset. It was really fascinating to see such a large number of beautiful birds dancing together.

Back in Melbourne, the party reached the residence of Rev. Radha Krishan for dinner. Here, it was a rare experience to participate in what was described as Mother�s Day celebrations. Pujya Mata Ji was requested to cut the cake to mark the ceremony which was being attended by about 80 people representing the cream of the local gentry.

On May 15, the day the divine couple was scheduled to leave for New Zealand, saints started pouring in from the morning itself. Baba Ji complimented them for their hospitality. He also appreciated their enthusiasm for the Mission and its message. As the number of saints increased, it became almost a formal briefing for them on how to take the voice of Truth to more and more people and how to remove the darkness of ignorance with the divine light. This humble servant also got an opportunity to explain the working of the Mission, with particular emphasis on the role of the Sant Nirankari Mandal. Before leaving Melbourne, just as in Kuala Lumpur, the party felt convinced that the Mission would expand here with the devoted efforts by the saints.

By the time the briefing was over, it was time to make a move for the airport. The flight from Melbourne to Auckland was scheduled at 1.25 p.m. All the saints present also came to the airport. Here, we found Mr. Don Armstrong of Qantas Airways was also present. It was indeed a very warm send off. The only question that could be read on each face was as to when Baba Ji and Pujya Mata Ji would visit them again.

SYDNEY
Australia had the privilege of receiving Baba Ji once again on May 18, this time in Sydney. The divine couple flew in from New Zealand. They were received at the airport by several saints, while the Counsel General of India there was represented by a senior official Shri Vijay Kumar. As mentioned earlier Rev. Vivek Chadha and Mrs. Jagjit Harbans Singh had traveled for over 24 hours from U.K. to be at the lotus feet of His Holiness here in Sydney. The local saints present at the airport included Rev. Chanbir Singh Chadha, President, Rev. Shashi Grover, Vice President, Rev. Vinod Ahluwalia, Secretary and several others. In all there were about 100 people at the Sydney airport who had come to receive the divine couple.

In the evening, Rev. Chanbir Chadha organized a reception for the holy couple, at his residence. About 100 people representing the cream of Asian society attended. The house which looked like a palace was tastefully decorated giving a view of Diwali festival in India. Everybody present was impressed by the sublime combination of modesty with prosperity.

The next day, several saints took out their cars and led Baba Ji to a number of places of historical importance and tourist interest. These included Blue Mountain, Three Sister Hills, the National Aquarium and Australian Wild Life Sanctuary and the world famous six caves (Jenolan, etc.). The party had a nice experience of a down the hill railway journey. On return, the divine couple had dinner at Vice-President Rev. Shashi Grover�s residence. She and her husband Rev. Dharam Grover were very happy to receive the divine couple. It was a real royal tradition that they adopted to welcome His Holiness and Pujya Mata Ji. They convinced Baba Ji that to devoted disciples the True Master is more than a king.

A special feature of Baba Ji�s stay in Sydney was that there was a Sangat everyday at the place where Baba Ji would take his dinner. Secondly, Baba Ji would stay with the host of the dinner to add to his blessings for the family. These Sangats were attended not only by the relatives and friends of the family but their neighbours also. This brought the Mission closer to the native community. As in Melbourne, this humble being had the special privilege of conducting these Sangats. This gave me good opportunity to explain the various aspects of the Mission and its working. The devotional songs presented by Rev. Babu Lal and Rev. Dilbagh Singh were appreciated a lot. Another important feature of the Sangats was that on almost every occasion some seekers would receive the Divine Knowledge.

On May 20 again the party went round certain places of historical and tourist interest which included Circular Quay, Mandy Beach, Opera House and Darling Harbour. This was, thus, another day of Sangat on the wheels.

On Sunday, May 21, Sydney also hosted a Samagam. It was held in the Quaker�s Hill Community Centre. Among those who attended was Shri S.S. Batish, Deputy Counsel General of India. The programme turned out to be one of the best in Australia. The audience received every item with due attention. Their own involvement in what was being told was quite evident. The pin drop silence throughout the hour long holy discourse was really remarkable. Baba Ji said:

Saints, it is really a matter of delight to get together in such an environment, to have the privilege of listening to the valuable words of wisdom from fellow saints that inspire us towards devotion to God. They remind us of the teachings of the spiritual masters of the past which, if acted upon, can make our life pleasant, happy and purposeful.

Whatever these great masters sought to preach, was addressed to the entire mankind. It was meant for every human being. Their message was neither for a particular community nor caste. They might have appeared in any part of the world, but all of them directed their message to the mankind as such. Whether we take the example of Lord Rama, Hazrat Mohammad, Lord Christ or Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, their message of truth was meant for the entire humanity.

Those who followed the teachings of great masters, adopted them in their day-to-day life, were benefited, whether they belonged to the Golden Age (Satyug), Silver Age (Treta), Bronze Age (Dwapar) or the Iron Age (Kalyug). It would be wrong to say that a particular time or Age was important or great by itself. It would not be correct to presume that only in Golden Age only people heard the message of truth, adopted it in their life and became great. In case the Age were significant, one should not have come across the name of cruel Harinyakashyap along with the great devotee Prahlad in the Golden Age. Yet we have this arrogant and egoist father who wanted his son to leave the path of devotion to God. Prahlad, however, went on repeating

JAL BHI RAM THAL BHI RAM

Similarly, in the Silver Age, while we hear of Lord Rama and the living example of love and devotion - Shabri, we have Ravana too. Then, in the Bronze Age along with Lord Krishna, we find the mention of Duryodhana. Similarly during the Iron Age we have the names of the Gurus who bestowed the divine light to remove darkness from the world and promoted the feelings of human unity and universal brotherhood. But at the same time, we find those who made them grind the corn as also those who beheaded them, hanged them. In case the Age had any significance or importance of his own, we would have found only devotees or saints and not the people who opposed to them.

In fact, in every age man found salvation by acting upon the teachings of the great spiritual masters. If it could be true in Golden Age, it must be possible even today, during what we call the Iron Age. What man is advised to do is to listen to what is taught by the men of wisdom and act upon the same during human life itself. They say:

BADE BHAG MANAS TAN PAWA,
SUR DURLABH SAR SAD HI GAWA

It means, it is a sign of rare fortune that one is born a human being. Even angels are anxious to have it. This is the opportunity, as the great masters advise man, to realise the truth, to know that human soul is part and parcel of the Super Soul i.e. God, and that man is recognized by the soul and not the physical form which is perishable and which must go one day:

RAM GAYO RAVAN GAYO,
JAKO BAHU PARVAR;
KAHO NANAK THIR KICHH NAHIN,
SAPNE JYON SANSAR

Here is the example of the body of Ravana who was so proud and the human form of Lord Rama, who was so noble. Both of them had to go. Whosoever comes must depart, whether he is a king or the beggar. Here it is said:

UGA HAI SO KATIYE,
PHOOLE SO KUMHLAYE;
JO BANA SO GIR PADE,
JO AYA SO JAYE.

This is the law of nature, the divine rule. What grows must get harvested, what blooms must wither away. Similarly, what is constructed must fall and the one who has come must go. Man is further taught that body or the outer appearance does not symbolize truth, whereas he takes it so and goes on working for it, looking after it. But man must realize that while body has a limit, the soul does not have. So, if the duration of the soul is longer than that of the body, he must pay greater attention to the former. Even otherwise, given a choice between two things, one less durable and other more, wisdom demands that one should opt for the more durable. One must go in for comfort, peace and happiness that is more lasting.

The joy or bliss for the soul lies in its communion with its Supreme Source, the Formless God. It is by realising God that the soul comes to know its own identity, realises itself. It is like one coming to know himself only when facing the mirror. Suppose, a person never gets an opportunity to see his image or reflection and is suddenly shown his own photograph. Surely he will refuse to recognize it. That is why it is said:

MAN TU JOT SARUP HAIN,
APNA MOOL PACHHAN.

Man must know his soul which is living and a particle of the Super Soul, a spark of the Celestial Light. Its importance must be realized, its significance appreciated. The unfortunate fact is that man attaches more importance to the body and remains entangled in matters related to it throughout his life. It is said:

PANCH BARAS KO BHOLA BHALA,
AB TO BEES BHAYO.
MAGAR PACHISI MAYA KARAN,
DES BIDES GAYO;
TIS BARAS KI JAB MATI UPJI,
NIT NIT LOBH BHAYO,
MAYA JORI LAKH KARORI,
ABHOON NA TRIPT BHAYO.

Your life is moving fast. At five, you were a small innocent child. But soon, you grew up and became 20, 25 and 30 and so on. And during all this time you were running after material wealth and felt never satisfied, were never content. The reality, however, is that all this material wealth will have to be left behind. After death nothing will go with you. Why talk of death? These objects do not help even if something untoward happens during lifetime itself. What stays with the soul is the Almighty and in case the soul does not seek Him, does not unite with God while in human body, continues to wander. It does not get peace.

So, what the spiritual masters emphasized is that man must realize that the aim he has set for his life is not going to help at last, even though fulfilled. Wisdom lies in the fact that he should seek the help of those who are spiritually enlightened or blessed with divine light and know the truth from them. But, suffering from ignorance, man is just wasting his time:

RAAT GAWAI SOYE KE,
DIVAS GAWAYA KHAYE;
HIRE JAISA JANM HAI,
KAUDI BADLE JAYE.

This human life is as precious as a diamond and you are spending it, wasting it for the sake of cowries. In the words of Swami Vivekananda, man should be as anxious to realize the truth as a drowning person would like to come out of water as quickly as possible. In fact, every man of spiritual wisdom has given this friendly advice to the human being that this is the time to serve saints and seek their blessings. This will make him happy here and get honour hereafter. They say:

KARON VINANTI SUNO MERE MEETA,
SANT TAHAL KI BELA;
IHAN KHAT CHALO HAR LAHA,
AAGE BASAN SUHELA.

GURMUKH LAHA LAI GAYE,
MANMUKH CHALLE PAT GAWAYE

While disciples of the True Master take the advantage of this human life and earn respect, the waywards go losing it all. Again it is said:

PAPI KARAM KAMAWANDE,
KARDE HAYE HAYE;
NANAK JYON MATHAN MADHANIAN,
TYON MATHE DHARAM RAYE.

Man commits all kinds of sins, runs after material wealth, but suffers at the end. However, it is only man who is advised to realize the Truth. Such advice is not offered to animals. Truly speaking, this is what distinguishes man from other creatures. All that is seen is subject to change. The body changes from childhood to youth and from youth to old age. The same material goods may be found useful at one time and harmful at the other. For example, milk is good for health but it is the first thing the doctor advises to avoid when the stomach is upset. It is the divine name, the Truth, God Nirankar that remains steadfast and does not undergo any change. Whosoever is linked with this supreme power enjoys the ever-lasting bliss. Often, I have the opportunity to go to small villages in the various States of India. I find people living in modest huts. Even then there is a vivid glow of joy on their faces. They are happy simply because they are linked with the Formless. They are content with the wealth of divine name. They do not attach any importance to their poor huts. Such blessed people enjoy the same bliss even if they live in palaces. There too, they do not attach importance to the palaces. The secret of their happiness lies in the wealth of divine knowledge. You may find people to be poor even though they may be living in palaces. This is so because they are not content. Instead of being grateful to God for what they possess, they keep on grumbling for what is not. On the other hand, even a person living in a cottage may find himself on top of the world simply because he is content with the wealth of divine name found with the benevolence of God. It is rightly said:

JO PAYE SANTOSH DHAN,
SAB DHAN DHOOL SAMAN.

Man who has the wealth of contentment finds every other wealth to be equal to dust. Naturally, having contentment in abundance, he is happy, notwithstanding the fact that he stay in a poor hut only. It is also said:

KAKHAN DI OH KULLI CHANGI,
JIS WICH GURMUKH RAHNDA EY.

Even a hut made of straw is auspicious provided it is the dwelling place of a saint, a devotee of God. On the other hand, even the palaces suffer from poverty because one does not find anything except the grumbling.

This brings us to one of the principles of this Mission which has stood the test of time. We must aspire for what is essential for the body, such as food, clothing and shelter. We must look after the family. We must work and acquire what is essential to meet their requirements. The only care that we have to take is that we should not get entangled only in these pursuits and ignore the Truth. Just as the body has no meaning without breath, the worldly materials have no value without the divine name.

NAM BINA JO PAHRE KHAYE,
JYON KUKAR JUTHAN MUNH PAYE;
NAM BINA JETA VYAVHAR,
JYON MIRTAK MITHYA SEEGAR.

The men of wisdom say that without the divine name, even the best food is like the filth eaten by a dog and the finest clothes are like decorating the dead body. Then, why not try to acquire the precious wealth of the divine name, while living in this world? Why not try to know where God is and why not try to realize the Almighty? Here we are told:

SUN VADDA AKHE SAB KOYE,
KEVAD VADDA DITHA HOYE.

Hearing, everybody says God is great, but nobody says so on the basis of having seen God. Seeing God is, however, very essential, before bring out faith on Him:

JAB JANYA TO MAN MANYA

This is how Kabir Ji put it. Another great saint, Tulsi, also has something similar to say:

HAI NIKTE SUJHE NAHIN,
DHRIG DHRIG AISI JIND;
TULSI IS SANSAR KO,
BHAYO MOTIABIND

God is so close, but still man fails to see Him because he suffers from the cataract of ignorance. So he is fumbling and stumbling. He is restless.

KAHE RE BAN KHOJAN JAI;
SARV NIWASI SADA ALEPA,
TOHE SANG SAMAI.

God is always with you, within you. Then, why search for Him in Jungles? What is required is only the vision to see Him. Meera had lot of love and devotion for Lord Krishna. She was also carrying an image of the Lord all the time. But she could not develop the divine vision to see the Lord until she sought the blessings from Guru Ravidas. Similarly, we find that Arjun stayed with Lord Krishna for 32 long years. Yet he could not know the Reality unless he attained the divine vision from the Lord. It is rightly said:

GYAN ANJAN GUR DIYA,
AGYAN ANDHER VINAS.

It is only after the divine master blesses one with the spiritual vision that the darkness of ignorance stands removed. The soul is salvaged only when it finds the divine light. Once man stands aligned to the Supreme Lord, all his doubts and apprehensions are over. He suffers from no inhibition of caste, creed and colour. He finds God dwelling in every human being:

SAHIB TERI SAHIBI
GHAT GHAT RAHI SAMAY

O� God, Thou art there in every human being. Once man acquires this vision to behold the Almighty in every human being, he is relieved automatically of all kinds of hatred and enmity. He does not find anybody a stranger. He has goodwill for all:

SANTAN KE MAN RAHAT HAI,
SAB KE HIT KI BAAT;
GHAT GHAT DEKHEN ALAKH KO,
PUCHHEN JAAT NA PAAT.

Saints carry goodwill for all. They think of the welfare of all. They do not go after the caste. Here man ceases to claim that his own caste is superior and, therefore, he would not love those who come from inferior castes or he must look down upon them. He does not suffer from arrogance. He does not suffer from the feelings of hatred and violence. For him, there is no distinction between any two persons coming from two different religious faiths. He stands united with the entire humanity, the universal fraternity. He is convinced that the same common divine chord is uniting each soul with the other.

So we see that once man is spiritually enlightened, even worldly illusions stand resolved. He is happy here and finds respect in the Kingdom of God.

Let us, therefore, remember that we have to first know God, understand Him and then realize and associate Him in our practical day-to-day life. Certainly, this will make the journey of our life smooth. Every human being shall be a blessing to the earth. Let us endeavour to put out the flames of violence currently appearing to have engulfed the world. Let us spread the message of peace and love. We must live as one single human fraternity, notwithstanding the fact whether we are inhabitants of Australia, India or any other part of the world. Let us strengthen the spirit of universal brotherhood, human unity and spread the fragrance of love wherever we are. For every human being, it is the same earth, the same air, the same nature, the same creator. It is, therefore, imperative that we must give up the feelings of hatred and promote peaceful co-existence.�

After the Samagam, the divine couple visited Rev. Jaipal Bhandari�s house. The evening programme i.e. dinner and Sangat took place at the residence of Rev. Hemant Manak, the distinguished son of Smt. Dharm Manak of Delhi.

On May 22, Baba Ji had his breakfast at the place of Rev. Surender Bhandari. This was followed by a brief congregation. Baba Ji also visited and blessed Rev. Purshotam Pawar of Chandigarh, Rev. Virender and Mrs. G. Sodhi (Rosy). The evening Sangat took place at the residence of Rev. Vinod Ahluwalia. Rev. Vinod is the son of a known missionary, late Lal Singh. All the brothers showed lot of respect not only to Baba Ji and Pujya Mata Ji but everybody present. Here Mrs. Jeet Basson and several other seekers got blessed with Brahm Gyan.

On May 23, the saints of Sydney again enjoyed a mobile Sangat. They traveled about 350 kms. to reach Canberra, the national capital of Australia. Baba Ji saw the Parliament House and other places of historical importance. Next day, on their way back, they had lunch at the place of Rev. Sunil Kataria.

In Sydney, the evening programme on May 24 took place at the residence of Rev. Chanbir Singh Chadha. This turned out to be a formal send off. Everybody had only one appeal to make and it was for Baba Ji�s early second visit.

On May 25, Baba Ji�s flight was a little early in the morning. In spite of terrible cold, a large number of saints came to the airport to see off His Holiness and Pujya Mata Ji. The Indian Embassy was represented again by Shri Vijay Kumar.