PRECIOUS PEARLS
(SAYINGS OF BABA GURBACHAN SINGH JI)

"S"

 

"SACH KHAND" (REGION OF TRUTH)
"Sach Khand" (The Region of Truth) is a forum, where "Sach" (Truth) regins. It is located not high above in the skies, as is generally believed, but in truthful conduct.

 

SACRIFICE
Sacrifice is a pre-requisite for the successful accomplishment of a cause.

 

SAINT: ABOVE ILL-WILL
A saint is ever humble, never disrespectful to others. Nor does he nurture ill-will against any one.

 

SAINT: ADVERSARIES
A saint does not lose his poise even when tormented. Rather, he prays for the well-being of even his adversaries, and in the process wins them over.

 

SAINT: ALWAYS BALANCED
A saintly soul is always balanced and blissful. Even moments of misery do not disturb him as they do a worldly person.

 

SAINT: COMPASSIONATE
A saint is moved to compassion by the sufferings of others, but stands like a rock against tyranny.

 

SAINT: FAITH
A common man magnifies his trivial troubles. But a saint takes even a serious trouble lightly and does not allow it to affect his faith.

 

SAINT: NON-VINDICTIVE
A saint does not entertain vindictive or hostile feelings even towards those who maltreat him. God himself creates such circumstances that the offenders are caught in their own net.

 

SAINT REDEEMS
Cleanse the pot first’ is the advice of the self-styled saints to the seekers. But a true saint does not mind our murky past. He believes that only a patient needs a physician for a cure. A healthy person has nothing to gain from a physician.

 

SAINT SHOWS GOD
The scriptures describe but cannot show God. Only a true saint can show God.

 

SAINTS FORGIVE
The worldly people, even if they ‘forgive’, retain rancour in their hearts. The saints, however, not only forgive but also transform sinners into saints.

 

SAINTS: INNATELY GOOD
Unlike the worldly people, who look for shortcomings in others, the saints with their innate goodness always see good in all.

 

SAINTS: OPPOSITION
A flower does not refuse to bloom because the thorns are around; it continues to blossom and spreads its fragrance. Similarly, saints too diffuse the fragrant message of Truth regardless of opposition and criticism.

 

SAINTS PERCEIVE GOODNESS
This world is verily a mirror. Everyone sees his own image in it. The saints being good, see goodness in everyone and consider everyone good.

 

SAINTS REVEAL FATHER
The religious scholars may command a lot of scriptural knowledge and preach universal brotherhood, yet they neither know, nor have seen the father i.e. God. The saints not only preach human brotherhood, they also reveal the Father.

 

SAINTS : REVERED
The kings and emperors are remembered for their material glamour, but are not revered or loved. On the other hand, the saints, sages and seers, are cherished, loved and worshipped forever, for their spiritual attainments and benedictions.

 

SAINTS: SANDALWOOD
A true saint is like sandalwood, which imparts its fragrance to its surrounding objects. The ritualistic are, however, like the bamboo trees, which fail to imbibe fragrance even in the midst of sandalwood.

 

SAINTS TRANSMUTE SINNERS
Even thieves, dacoits, thugs and murderers, evolved as saints when they encountered seers and realized God. They are revered and worshipped as saints even today.

 

SALVATION
One can attain salvation only while in flesh and blood.

 

SCHOLARSHIP
Saints’ discourses may not pass the test of scholarship. Nevertheless, these enshrine the pristine truth and reality.

 

SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY
Science can impart sight to see the world around, but not the insight to see Divinity. It can cleanse our blood of impurities, but cannot cleanse our heart of base feelings. It can cure almost all the ailments of the heart, but cannot instil sympathy, compassion and goodwill therein. Such tender and noble sentiments can be generated only by the spiritual awakening.

 

SCRIPTURES: GUIDES
The scriptures serve as a guide to God-realisation. But, instead of following them, we quarrel over them. If we abide by the scriptures, in letter and spirit, we will realise God, and enjoy the much coveted peace, bliss and beatitude.

 

SCRIPTURES: KEY
The scriptures are, no doubt, a key to the Kingdom of God, but we need a True Master to operate it.

 

SCRIPTURES: LETTER AND SPIRIT
It is an irony that the scriptures, meant to dispel superstition, often make the people superstitious, because they follow only the letter and not the spirit thereof.

 

SCRIPTURES: NEED
The scriptures enshrine useful prescriptions and precautions for spiritual ailments. One should, however, not forget that mere precautions or prescriptions cannot cure the patient. Nor would the praise of the physician or his treatment be of any avail. For a cure, one must take the medicine and also abide by the instructions of the physician. Similarly, we need not only a spiritual guide to reveal God and truly interpret the scriptures, but also to follow his teachings.

 

SCRIPTURES: RECITATION
Mechanical recitation of the scriptures is like gargling instead of drinking water and cannot quench the thirst.

 

SEE
Those, who are considered far-sighted, may see things far ahead, but they miss the reality at hand. However, those, who ‘see’ with the eye of the True Master, see the reality everywhere, far or near.

 

SEE AND SAY
One who has actually seen a place can truly describe it, not otherwise. Like scientists, spiritualists too believe in "see and say".

 

SELFLESS SERVICE CLEANSES HEARTS
Selfless service alone can cleanse one’s heart.

 

SELFLESS SERVICE: HIGHEST PEAK
Selfless service is the highest peak of worship and devotion.

 

SELFLESSNESS: MEASURE
Selflessness is the sole measure of devotion.

 

SELF-SURRENDER
Self-surrender is the only way to God-realization.

 

SERVICE: APOLOGY
If, for any reason, one cannot accomplish an entrusted assignment, one should beg to be excused: this too is service.

 

SERVICE: MENTAL
Mental service also means seeing good in all and not finding faults in anyone.

 

SETBACKS
Setbacks should be taken as opportunities, provided by Providence, to introspect and weed out our weaknesses.

 

SHAM SHOW
The ‘white’ is a symbol of purity and piety. However, if a person nurtures hatred and ill-will within, even the white attire would be a mere sham show.

 

SHORTCOMINGS
Tremendous courage is needed to accept one’s shortcomings. Unless we accept, we cannot remedy the same.

 

SOCIETY
The human society can be likened to a machine and the individuals as its components, each having its own place and role.

 

SOUL: BLIND
Imagine the misfortune of a person crying for water while standing on the bank of a stream, unaware of the crystal clear water flowing beside him. Such is the plight of an unenlightened human soul, in the midst of the all-pervasive God.

 

SOUL: LOST
A child, lost in a crowded fair, weeps and wails. Sweets and merry-go-rounds, so alluring for the children, fail to enchant it until a person, who knows the child as well as the father, turns up and restores the former to the latter. Now the weeping child is all smiles. So is the case with the human soul which, caught up in the maze of materialistic world, has lost ‘touch’ with its Father-God. The people vainly try to console it by performing religious rites and rituals. It is, however, only by the holy communion with god through a True Master that the soul can rest in peace and poise.

 

SOUL: MIRROR
Soul can be aptly likened to a mirror. We can clearly see our face in the mirror if it is clean.

 

SOUL: REAL ABODE
When one dies, the physical constituents merge with their respective elements. Have we ever cared to know where the soul goes? If we wish that it should not wander about but rest in its real abode, it should know it. God-knowledge alone can lead it to its real abode i.e. God.

 

SOUL: UNENLIGHTENED
As unenlightened soul roams about in utter wilderness. This indeed is the fate of every being or object that gets separated from its source or centre. Water in a tumbler, ‘separated’ from the flowing river, loses its vast dimension and the capacity to remain fresh. Even the water that evaporates from the sea, comes down again in the form of rain, wends its way through difficult terrains and roaring rivers in order to rejoin the sea from which it got ‘separated’. It knows no rest till it rejoins its source. So is the case with the soul, separated from the Over Soul

 

SOUL: WEDDED
Even a poor housemaid turns a queen if wedded to a king. Likewise, the soul wedded to the Super Soul, enjoys royal splendour i.e. celestial bliss.

 

SOUL AND SUPER SOUL
A child in the lap of its mother is happy even in a hut, while the one, who is deprived of its mother, is in agony even in a palace. So is the case of the soul, embraced by, or separated from, the Super Soul.

 

SPIRITUAL BLISS
If we have nor experienced bliss after attaining God-knowledge, we should search our souls and plug leakage.

 

SPIRITUAL HUE
The spiritual hue never fades. Hence spiritual transformation is abiding.

 

SPIRITUALITY CONQUERS HEARTS
Nations can extend their boundaries with military might. Law can be daunting and brute force can make others bow. But these cannot win love and affection of others. spirituality may not conquer kingdoms, but it does conquer hearts.

 

SPIRITUALITY RESTS ON GRACE
Spirituality rests on grace, self-surrender and dedication.

 

SPIRITUALLY BLIND
A spiritually blind person shuts his eyes towards the all-pervading God and shouts: there is no God! It is just like shutting one’s eyes to the sun and shouting: it is night!!

 

STEADFASTNESS
Men, who are true to their word, are steadfast in their action.

 

SUPERIORITY
Superiority lies not in the time factor, but in the degree of devotion and dedication to a cause.

 

SUPPORT
To scale the material heights, we need material support. Similarly, to attain the spiritual heights, we need spiritual support i.e. Master’s blessings.

 

SURRENDER
Surrender and obedience are the secrets of happiness.