Who can be described as Gurmukh, a saint? Who is Manmukh, an ignorant?
What is the difference between Gurmukh and Manmukh?
Where do the saints receive their virtues from? Who is the source of virtues?
This world, it is said, is full of sorrows. But saints also lived in this very world.
Whenever they appeared on this earth, whether in this country or elsewhere, they found the
same kind of situation, the same kind of complications of worldly attachments. They found
armies of every country fighting wars like this. They found people having the same
attitude towards living. Everything was like this and the saints also lived in their
midst. But with them there was a difference. When this boat of human body moves on the
surface of water, it is welcome, but when water enters the boat, as we know, it brings
trouble. The saints do live in this world, but they do not permit it to enter their minds.
The saints live in this world just like any other people. But the difference, as stated
above, is that of the boat in the water and water in the boat. An unenlightened person
lives in this world and his mind is also occupied by this world all the time. A saint too
lives in this world, but he does not allow it to occupy his minds. He puts this Almighty
Nirankar there. And this is the biggest reason of his happiness, the most important secret
of his joy.
In fact this difference between a saint (Gurmukh) and an ignorant person (Manmukh) is that
the latter is always attached to the worldly materials. He forgets God and is influenced
by ego. Even a small little power makes him arrogant and he indulges in deeds that drift
him away from God. No doubt, he does not preach that people should give up their devotion
to God and run after the worldly materials, But his actions will tend to create a distance
between God and ourselves. That is why saints always advise us to avoid the nature and
company of the ignorant as they always shake our faith in the Almighty.
Once Baba Avtar Singh Ji asked, "Who is your friend, the greatest friend? Who is your
worst enemy?". Everybody expressed his own opinion. Somebody said that a friend in
need is friend in deed. He helps us whenever he finds us in trouble. On the other hand, a
person who creates hurdles in our way, tires to cause our downfall and spoils our image in
the eyes of the world is our worst enemy. Baba Ji did not agree. He said, "Your best
friend is the person who introduces you to Satguru, the True Master and he who shakes your
faith in God is you worst enemy."
Saints! A saint (Gurmukh) is known by the fact that he becomes our true friend. He always
strengthens our faith in God. He has praise for fellow saints. He always tells us that man
is never perfect; only God, Nirankar is perfect. But what do we do? We treat others as
inferior. We point out their shortcomings. On the other hand, we think we are complete, we
are perfect. As soon as we believe this, we start criticising others. Contrary to this,
when we go to the company of saints, we become modest. We start realising our
shortcomings. We learn that we are not perfect because we have greed, we have anger, we
tend to defame others. But in action we are perfect since we do not withhold somebody's
payment; our dealings in business are neat and clean. However, we also learn that even
this perfection of behaviour ends, if we do not give up criticising or defaming others,
insulting others. A person who makes us realise these things is our real well-wisher; he
is our favourite.
Who is called a saint (Gurmukh)? Who can be called a saint? In fact Gurmukh is a composite
of two simple words Gur (the Master) and Mukh (face). The man who keeps his face towards
his True Master or looks forward to Satguru for guidance in life is Gurmukh. And the
person who goes by what his own mind (Mana) wants or says, is Manmukh. Not to cheat
others, not to deceive others, not to usurp what rightfully belongs to others, not to
indulge in telling lies- these are the signs to recognise a saint, a Gurmukh.
In fact, it is man's own attitude or behaviour that makes him Gurmukh or Manmukh i.e.
saintly or unsaintly. For example, we use fire for cooking. We prepare tasty and sumptuous
dishes. This is its right use. But the same fire is used to burn Somebody's house also.
Similarly, wind blows, drives the clouds away from us and we suffer in the heat of the
sun. But the same wind may bring the clouds over us and it may rain and make us happy.
Similarly, the company of the non-believers of God takes us away from happiness. But when
we start believing in Truth, we get peace.
An ignorant person (Manmukh) adopts several rituals to get this peace. But all his
practices fail because he is not integrated with the real source of peace and happiness
i.e. God. No other means that the man's merger with this source of eternal joy, the
Almighty, can make him happy. Man cannot take rest or find eternal peace of mind so long
as he remains attached to the worldly materials which by themselves are not permanent,
stable and independent. Once a man gives place in his heart to the ever-living Almighty,
he himself rises above decay and whosoever comes in his contact, he too finds peace,
lasting and all the time. Thereafter, no worldly illusions can attract him, allure him,
shake him. History tells us the tales of troubles created by people for saints and the way
they were tortured. But these saints did not detach themselves from the true name, the
ultimate truth i.e. God. They continued to rely on it; they always gave importance to this
name (God).
Saints! Only a person who knows this Permanent Power (God) and aligns himself with it can
remain fearless, unshaken and firm and love all while having faith in truth. In fact all
saints are loving devotees of the True Master. The one who loves every saint, indeed loves
the True Master. Therefore, we must show love and respect to all saints or fellow
devotees. And we must have this feeling throughout our life.
An ignorant person is unable to have such a feeling. When mind prevails over us we are
overwhelmed by the non-cooperation of the mind, we are overwhelmed by ego. In other words,
when we start to believe: I know a lot, I understand a lot, I am perfect, I am a great
intellectual, I am physically very strong and so on, the 'I' enters our mind and there is
no room for the love for others to flourish. With the coming of ego, the stream of love
ceases to flow. where 'I' dwells, God Formless does not; and where God dwells 'I' does
not.
A saintly person removes 'I', gives the place to 'You', takes refuge in this Almight and
is all the time aligned with God Nirankar.
Saints love all. Their love flows from heart. Body is not the consideration; it is the
invisible self or the soul that they love. It is devotion, which has always been shown by
devotees or saints. Their love or devotion for God is always real, from the core of their
hearts. It is never unreal or for show off. Neither they love God for worldly materials,
because they know it is never the purpose. They know that worldly possessions can be had,
perhaps more than anybody else, even by thieves, robbers and other evil doers:
SUT DARA AUR LAKSHMI, PAPI KE BHI HOYE;
SANT SAMAGAM HARI KATHA, TULSI DURLABH DOYE.
A sinner, who does evil deeds may also find these things (son, wife and wealth) but the
most valuable is the company of saints, the company of spiritual masters. And the saintly
persons would love only this rare thing. They never depend on material goods. They only
make use of them as per the need. Their real love is only for God. Their only reliance is
this God, the Formless. They know that their devotion to God is the panacea for all kinds
of diseases:
HARI KO NAAM SADA SUKHDAI;
JAKO SIMR AJAMAL UBRAYO,GANKA HUN GAT PAI.
The nectar of God's Name (praise) has always brought relief, produced happiness. Worldly
materials are not always the same. Their impact too varies. One thing may be useful at one
time, but the same thing may prove harmful at some other. We know that milk gives strength
to the body. But in diarrhoea, the doctor always advises one to stop taking milk.
Different materials of the world have different uses, different effects. But the divine
praise has been described as always soothing. It gives happiness when we are unhappy. In
fact whosoever has given it place in his mind, sought its protection, rises above all ups
and downs of life and enjoys peace all the time in all situations. A saint is so firmly
aligned with God that he never fumbles. He does not give up his saintly character,
whatever the circumstances:
SANT NA CHHOREN SANTAYEE, KOTIK MILEN ASANT;
CHANDAN VISH VYAPAT NAHIN, LIPTE RAHT BHUJANG.
It means, just as the sandal tree does not give up its coolness, its fragrance (even when
it is coiled by snakes), similarly, a saint does not leave the path shown by Satguru, does
not give up service of others. If the world has found any salvation, it is only because of
such saints. That is why it is said:
KABIR DHARTI SADH KI TASKAR BAITHA AYE;
DHARTI BHAR NA DHAYAEHN, INKO LAHA LAYE.
It means this earth belongs to the saints, but the thieves have occupied it; and they are
spoiling it. This earth cannot bear the burden of such people, such sinners. But this
earth is still there. Why? Because the saints are also there. This earth is holding itself
because of these saints only:
SANT NA HOTE JAGAT MEIN, JAL MARTA SANSAR.
Today, we see the flames of hatred all around. We see them in our own country, we see them
elsewhere. There are bamboos in the forest. As the wind blows they come into friction with
each other. Their friction produces a spark that causes fire all over and threatens to
destroy the entire forest. The flames, however, fail to cross if there is some water in
between. Now that water is there, where should the fire go? There is no way to proceed.
Similar is the case with the feelings of hatred and jealousy. They spread like fire in the
forest. But with the appearance of a saint, they give way to calm and peace. The evil fire
just cannot spread. Perhaps that is the reason why those who spread hatred in the world
consider saints as a hurdle in their way. Saints speak of love, humanity and universal
brotherhood. But those who want to exploit caste and communal feelings for power, consider
the spiritually enlightened saints as undesirable blockages or barriers of their path.
Saints preach equality only, saying that all human beings are the creation of the same
God. But the selfish people do not like this. That is why saints have always been the
target of their enmity, hatred and jealousy. Even then the saints do not give up their
nature. The sandal tree does not stop shedding fragrance even though the snakes cling it.
Somebody stands on the bank of the Ganges. He starts throwing stones into the eater with
all his might. Does the water of the Ganges cease to be meant for the person who is
throwing stones? No. The Ganges still provides water (to him). It still quenches thirst of
all, makes everyone clean.
It means that saints possess calm. They do not give up their saintly nature even if they
come across millions of unsaintly persons. We get peace of mind from this kind of conduct
of the saints only. it is such qualities that provide peace of mind. it is because of
these qualities that even sinners get pardoned; they too get salvation. A saint does not
vacillate. He remains firm, because he is aligned with this God. In fact that is the
reason why such qualities enter his life. So long as we are not aligned with God, we
remain narrow-minded. As soon as we are associated with God, our narrow-mindedness gives
way and then we pray for the goodwill of all, we do good to all. This change in our life
comes when we are associated with saints, when we realise this God Nirankar and when we
become the humble servants of humanity.
The nature of a saintly person can be compared with that of a cow, while an unsaintly
person is like a snake. We feed the cow with grass, sometimes not even green. Even then it
gives us milk. On the other hand, we offer milk to the snake and we know that it gives
only poison in return. In fact the snake stings even after drinking milk, because it can
give to others only what it has. Saints are known to be helpful to others. They share the
burden of others. In their company millions attain salvation. Take for instance a nail,
which is quite sharp. If we drive it into a piece of wood, it makes a hole, it causes
damage. if it is thrown into the water, it sinks and is lost for ever. But if there is a
big log of wood floating on the water and we put the nail on it, it will also swim across.
Exactly like this, even the ignorant people get salvation when they find the support of
saints. Iit must, however, be noted that the unenlightened persons can swim across only
when they seek help from saints. In the darkness of materialism, it is difficult to know
as to who is a devotee and who is devil; who is accomplished with spiritual knowledge and
who is not; who is devoted to his divine master and who is not. To look at, they appear to
have no difference. By deeds, of course, they may be distinguished from each other.
Sometime back we were on a long journey. We carried some food with us. On the way, we sat
under a tree to take our food. As you know, the taste of pickles is acidic or sour and
often it is said that its use spoils the throat. As we were throwing a piece of pickles
that was left, we saw some crows hovering over there. Suddenly, it came to our mind that a
crow is already not having a sweet voice, it has a hoarse voice. We said, rather in a
light vein, that a crow has nothing to lose if it takes pickles, because its throat is
already like this. But if we give pickles to the cuckoo, it may harm its throat because it
has a sweet and charming voice. Similarly, there are evil persons in this world, whose
actions are bad, who harm one another. In case they do a bad deed, we do not bother. We
simply remark that they are like this only. But if a good person whom we call a saint,
adopts an evil, everybody takes notice. Saintly persons are always expected to be good and
gentle in their behaviour. In case any shortcoming is noticed in their conduct, it gets
highlighted. Therefore, saints are required to be more careful about their conduct. In
fact they always remain alert.
The gain from spiritual enlightenment is more in the case of saints who make use of it.
for example, when the sun rises, it rises for all, but only those will gain from its light
who leave their dark, dingy rooms and come in the open. There are several other effects of
the sun also. For instance, it provides strength to the human body. It makes the corn
nutritious. But all this can be possible by becoming face to face with the sun. However,
those who continue to stay in darkness, who on their own keep themselves imprisoned in
their rooms or who cover themselves with sheets of cloth, can not derive any benefit from
the sun. Whenever Gurus or Prophets appeared in this world in the olden ages, it was said:
MITI DHUND JAG CHANAN HOYA
It means the mist of darkness is gone and there is light.
It is just like the sun, we were discussing above. If it was the age of Guru Nanak, even
during those times the (real) beneficiaries were only those who listened to what he
preached, who submitted to him and sought his blessings. No wonder, even persons like
Sajjan Thug were pardoned and began to be counted in the category of saints, But this
divine light was of no use to the people who described Guru Nanak as a misguided man
(Kurahiya). Satguru was very much there, but blessed were only those who sought his holy
company, listened to what he taught and acted upon the same. A saintly person (Gurmukh)
always acts on the advice or principles of his divine master. On the other hand, an
ignorant person (Manmukh) goes the way where there are only evils, only thorns. He does
feel the pain, which results in the loss of peace of mind. He treads on the thorns of five
(notorious) instincts- lust, anger, greed, passion and ego and feels the pain but still
continues to walk on the same. No doubt even saintly people have to walk on these thorns,
but they cover their feet with the shoes of spiritual enlightenment. Thus these thorns do
not prick them, do not become a reason for the pain. Divine masters have always advises
man, given him the wisdom so that he understands that if he goes by thorny path, there is
bound to be pain, there is bound to be suffering. On the other hand, if he adopts the
path, which is full of flowers, he will get the fragrance only, the pleasure only. An
ignorant person (Manmukh) does not only adopt the thorny path but also keeps on spreading
the thorns so that the others who pass that way are also troubled. Saints, however, do not
spread the thorns for others; they endeavour to remove the thorns. They know the method,
they have the knowledge to make others feel happy. They tell them that they can be happy
by aligning themselves with this Ultimate Truth, God-Nirankar, by making their mind the
dwelling place for the Almighty al the time and submit to the divine will in all
situations. These illusions, these false allurements of worldly materials are there at
every step, but a saint associated himself with God and finds peace and happiness not only
for himself but others also, notwithstanding opposition from the people of the ignorant
world. For example, the scorpion does not give up stinging, while the saintly people do
not give up their selfless effort to save it. Similarly, saints do not give up their path
of spiritualism, even if the ignorant people continue to make efforts to harm them. Those
who have faith in the divine masters, those who are saints and devotees, they do not
spread the flames (of hatred); they only extinguish the same. They are men of peace. They
do not possess any weapon to cause any harm to others. In fact, herein lies their
distinction, their greatness. They do not follow the path of the downfall of others. They
march on the path of the uplift of others. The person, who causes downfall of others
thinks that he is brave, but the principle that has been proved since ages says that the
person who rescuers others is in fact great. Anybody can be wounded anywhere with any
weapon, but can we find the healers of those wounds too in every house, in every street?
No. This does not happen. Suppose a person is injured in a village. He has to rush to the
town in search of a doctor. There too, when he inquires whether there is a doctor he gets
the reply that he should go further, he should go the next ward, where he may find a
doctor or a hospital.
What we mean to say is that those who heal the wounds of others are no found in every
street, in every ward. This is so because it is a noble task which very few can afford to
perform. To tear a cloth into pieces does not require much effort. Give the scissors to a
child, he will do it in no time. But these pieces can not be stitched together in one
second or in one minute. it requires lot of labour, lot of skill to do so. This tough job
of stitching together, uniting together, this noble task of the uplift of others, healing
the wounds of others is the privilege of the saintly persons only.
Where do these noble people acquire these qualities from? They obtain them from the
company of saints, by doing the service to them. The company of saints always glorifies
us, fills our minds with nectar (righteousness) and helps virtues enter our lives. The
only requirement, however, is that we should fully surrender to and align with godly
persons. In case there appears a wall of ego or some other kind of curtain in between, we
may be deprived from being purified, from becoming gold. Divine Masters have always
emphasised the need for the company of saints. They have always advised not to go in for
the company of the ignorant and the unpious:
SADHU KE SANGAT RAHE, JAU KI BHOOSI KHAY;
HONHAR SO HOYE HAI, SAKAT SANG NA JAY.
Whatever we may have to do in the world, we must remain in the company of saints. We
may face any ups and downs, we may receive anything to eat- even the husk of barley, yet
we should not go to the company of the unsaintly persons. We should cherish the company of
saints all the time, because it is only here that our belief in God remains firm, our
faith in the Almighty is strengthened. No more we stumble; we continue our march on the
path of truth. It is because of the company of saints that our mind becomes spiritually
enlightened. It comes to know what is good and what is bad. Automatically it stops moving
towards evils and adopts the path of goodwill. Man indeed has never found salvation unless
he got the company of saints. Man achieved salvation only when he found this righteous way
of thinking, this wisdom. And this wisdom comes from the company of saints. Spiritual
masters say:
JO JAANE APAS KO NICHA, SO HI GINIYE SAB TE UCHA
The man who considers himself to be humble is in fact the highest of all. His name is
included in the category of saints and he deserves to be revered. He has no ego, because
ego brings hatred for all. A man occupying some high office always talks in terms of 'I',
'I can do this', 'I can do that'. Similarly if man gets a little honour it goes to his
head and makes him diseased with ego.
One may be proud of one's good piece of writing or a poem. One may be proud of being a
singer. But so long as man has ego, he does not receive real respect. He has no name,
notwithstanding his high caste or number of degrees he has obtained. Saints, on the other
hand, receive instant respect because they are modest, they are humble. The world goes
through what they say and attaches importance to the same.
As we look at the life of the divine masters of the past, we do not find any ego in them.
They possessed all noble qualities, yet they never claimed themselves to be superior to
others. They always maintained their modesty and behaved like servants of the servants. We
see that the water of the sprig flows. As it moves downward, it moves towards the vast
ocean, it goes acquiring vastness. On the other hand, the water that stays on a height,
does not comedown, produces bad smell and may spread diseases. Similarly, we can merge
with this God (the divine vastness) if we give up all kinds of ego and adopt humility and
modesty in all matters. The man who surrenders himself before divine masters is always
held in high esteem and is blessed with all kinds of happiness. On the other hand a person
with ego is always in a fume and makes others fume too. A person who is humble and modest
bestows his fragrance on others and himself remains cool and calm. He is venerated in this
world and hailed in heaven. That is why the noble and virtuous always opt for humility.
They would never oppress others. They would never scare others and at the same time never
feel scared from anyone. The virtues that are once imbibed by the noble, remain always
there. No power whatsoever, no action whatsoever can dissolve their virtues. Saints are
always free from fear. They have no worry. A pyre (Chita) burns the dead, while worry
(Chinta) burns the alive. That is why saintly people avoid worry. They are, of course,
alert. A saint is always conscious. He does not utilise his devotion to God for worldly
gains. He (devotee) sold a commodity to saints at a little higher price. This came under
discussion. he quoted :
SANTAN SIYON HUM LAHA KHATYA
It means that we have to gain from saints only. Saints! We have not to earn this kind
of profit from saints. We have to borrow from them their qualities, learn the skill of
having faith in God. We have to learn from them as to how to serve others even when we
have little capacity to do so. Saintly people always pay attention to the way they are
leading their lives, and they continue to ponder until their last breath suppose we travel
by train . Who does win our admiration? There is a passenger. He is assisting and helping
others. He offers space to accommodate others. It is possible that he might get down at
the very next station. He may get down after 50-100 miles. However, even during such a
short a journey, he pleases every body around him. The fellow passengers continue to feel
enchanted with the fragrance of his behaviour even after he gets down. He creates such an
impression in their minds that they remember him with joy until they reach home. They
indeed feel inspired by him. Now, there may be another person, another passenger
travelling in the same compartment. His journey may be comparatively long. But in that
long journey he quarrels with everybody, abuses them, harasses them, dumps their luggage
on the ground and stretches himself over the entire berth. He too will be remembered by
fellow passengers, but merely for his bitter words. Remembering him will make them feel
pained only. A Gurmukh (saintly person) is just like the first passenger and Manmukh
(unsaintly person) resembles the other.
The saintly persons are virtuous because they are always aligned with the divine source of
virtues, the Almighty. That is why they are always happy. On the other hand, the unsaintly
persons are not even aware of the truth. So there is nothing unusual when they make mis-
takes. For example, a man was jumping into the river again and again. Someone asked him
the reason. He said, "I am searching for a necklace. Look, there it is in the water.
I want to take it out. The problem is that when I am outside the water, I can see the
necklace. But when I jump into it, I just cannot find anything. It is really baffling. I
have been trying to get at the necklace for quite some time (but in vain) ." Hearing
this, the other man said, "Brother! Look over your head there." He looked and
found that the necklace was hanging on a branch of a tree over his head. What he saw into
the water was only its reflection. While the necklace in fact was hanging on the branch of
a tree, he was searching for it below (in the water). that is why saints point out:
VASTU KAHIN, DHUNDAT KAHIN
It means the thing is somewhere else, while it is being searched for somewhere else.
The source of happiness is the Almighty. But man is searching for the same (happiness) in
worldly objects, which are only a reflection. The deer looks for the musk in the bushes
whereas it exists within its body. A saintly person knows as to who is the ocean of
happiness, where it is. That is why he is always content, fully satisfied. An unsaintly
person does not know this. That is why he is baffled. No doubt he is familiar with the
names used for God, he does not know what exactly they mean. There are many names used for
this Almighty. Somewhere it is Allah, somewhere else it is Ram. Similarly, at places it is
called Waheguru and elsewhere it is described as God , Nirankar etc. A Gurumukh does not
enter into the controversy of names. He goes after the object, the truth, for which these
names stand. Spiritual masters point out:
JIS VAKHAR KO LEN TU AYA,
They refer here to the object (Vakhar) and not to the name (Akhar). It has also been
stated clearly that one need not wander in remote lonely places in search of this divine
object:
KAHE RE BAN KHOJAN JAYEE,
SARAV NIWASI SADA ALEPA
TOHE SANG SAMAYEE.
In other words, God is there with you, while you are searching for it in remote places, in
caves, etc. Man continues to wander from place to place in search of the Almighty. This
aimlessness is the root cause of his bewilderment. A spiritually enlightened person
realise God all pervading and omnipresent, with the benevolence of the divine master. He
then rises above all misapprehensions. He does not fall prey to superstition; he is never
a victim of blind faith. He does not stop if a cat cuts across his way or somebody
sneezes. All these are the signs of being ignorant, being unsaintly. Blind faith breeds
from misapprehensions, from not knowing the truth. A young lady got married and came to
the house of her in-laws for the first time. She found that her mother-in-law had put a
basket over a cat. In fact the cat had come there by chance and the basket had been placed
to stop it from spoiling the sweets etc. The bride, of course, saw the mother in-law doing
this. Time passed and the bride had her own children. When her son got married and the
bride began to enter the house, she asked the servant to bring a cat. A cat was brought as
also a basket. The cat was covered with the basket. The woman had only seen her
mother-in-law doing this and she took it as an essential ceremony for the wedding. She
thought that it was essential to call for a cat and cover it with a basket at the time of
the bride's entering the house of her in-laws. Only then wedding ceremonies would be
complete.
This was ignorance. Because of ignorance the woman started doing whatever she saw being
done by her mother-in-law. In fact her mother-in-law had covered the cat with a basket
only because it was creating disturbance. We find such ignorance all around. Unsaintly
people get stuck up in such superstitious activities. Saintly people, however, do not
indulge in such things at all. All their misapprehensions end with the knowing of God and
their devotion to this Nirankar. A person who is blessed by Satguru and realises God
Nirankar, attains communion with the Almighty, he in fact leads an enlightened life. He
pursues the path of selfless service through body, intellect and his material assets. Even
this earth feels purified by the touch of the feet of such noble persons.