Every human being
coming to this world wants to be happy. Everybody has the desire that he may
receive all pleasures, all comforts. Guided by this desire he makes efforts. He
adopts all kinds of means. But still he is unhappy, he finds misery. Why? It
happens because man searches for tranquillity in the worldly materials (Maya)
which Infact can not produce it. About such people, it is said :
JOGI DUKHIA JANGAM
DUKHIA,
TAPSI KO DUKH DOONA HO;
ASHA TRISHNA SAB KO VYAPE,
KOI MAHAL NA SOONA HO;
AVDHU DUKHIA BHUPATI DUKHIA,
RANK DUKHIA VIPREETA HO;
KAHE KABIR SAKAL JAG DUKHIA,
SANT SUKHI MAN JEETA HO.
What is explained here is that even those who are living in palaces are not
happy. They are in distress because they have ambitions even over there.
Wherever the lust for worldly materials has the upper hand, there is distress,
there is misery. Desires produce unhappiness whether man lives in a small hut, a
big bungalow or a palace. Then, who is happy? In this world, only a saint is
happy, because he controls his mind. He surrenders his mind to God, integrates
it with the Almighty. As a result, he receives contentment. Once man is attached
and the mind is integrated with God, who is above all pains and pleasures, he
gets contentment. And once there is contentment in life, where is the question
of misery? Pleasure comes from contentment, it comes from, submission to the
divine will. Whether you take Kabir who lived in a cottage or Janak who dwelt in
palaces, you find both of them happy, because they were saints. On the other
hand whether you take kings and emperors who lived in palaces or the poor living
in huts, there is tension, pain, discord, strife and hatred in both the cases,
if they happen to be ignorant, spiritually unenlightened. Those who depend on
worldly materials (Maya), are attached to them, cannot be content whether the
resources they possess are huge or small. And those who are attached with the
Creator of these materials (Mayapati), the Almighty, they are found to be
content even with fewer resources. Man attains true happiness not from Maya but
from Mayapati.
The human body is also a worldly creation and is bound to stay with worldly
materials. In case the body stays with worldly materials, there is no escape, if
the mind starts living with the same. For example, if boat stays in water, there
is no harm, but if water enters the boat, it is harmful. With God in mind,
dealing with worldly material is no problem. But if the worldly materials
overshadow the mind, man cannot remain happy. The problem, however, is that
today it is Maya and not Mayapati, that man has placed in his mind. He has
forgotten the Creator and that is why he is misery.
Taste or flavour is a passion of the tongue. Because of this, the fish runs
after a piece of (kneaded) flour. In case the fish knows that there is a hook in
the back of the piece of flour and it sees, it will control itself and put its
mouth forward with caution, pick up the piece of flour and avoid the hook which
is hanging with a rod held by the main standing outside. The man puts this
kneaded flour on the hook in order to confuse the fish, puzzle it and trap it. A
fish that is ignorant, that is not in the know of it, will run after the flour
and be caught by the hook. In other words, it falls into the trap. Similarly,
there is no doubt about the fact that all that is seen in the world, all worldly
materials are a divine gift to man. But man does not use them for the rightful
purpose. He chases them for his self - interests, to satisfy his own ambitions
and gets caught into their trap just like the fish that felt lured by the flour
and was caught by the hook. That is why Maya has been described as a source of
pain, a fallacy, a serpent. Saints! Even a serpent can harm only if there is
poison in its hood. In case the poison is removed, you can play with the
serpent. It may be lying by your side or coiling your neck, it just cannot harm
you.
The spiritually enlightened saints detach their minds from the worldly wealth
and attach the same with this God Nirankar. But it is in the nature of the mind
that if it is stopped from one side, it runs to the other. The various organs of
the body also take it towards the worldly materials and push it into the trap of
their fascination. Once this happens, the mind loses everything and falls into
the trap. For example, people who hunt for the elephant, dig a deep pit in the
ground and cover it with grass, etc. Close to the pit, they place a dummy female
elephant to attract the male elephant. The elephant gets lured and moves towards
the dummy. The result is that he falls into the pit. The hunters catch him and
put him into chains. This has been described in the following words :
DHOKHE KI HATHNI
LAKHI,
DHAYO GAJ LALCHAYE;
KHANDAK MAHIN GIR PARAYO,
SIR DHUN DHUN PACHHTATE.
In the same manner, man indulges in ambitions, falls into the pit and repents.
At times the ambitions are fulfilled also. This, however, does not make man
content. On the other hand, delightful taste (of fulfillment) creates a chain of
desires. Man follows the chain bit by lit and is never able to liberate his
mind.
Just as the fish is caught because of the weakness of its tongue for the
(delightful) taste and the elephant is chained because of lust, in the same
manner the moth (Patanga) loses its life because of its passion for light. When
the passion of one organ does so much of harm, we can imagine the disaster
created by all the five organs with their respective passions in the case of man
- the sound for the ear, contact for the skin, beauty for the eyes, taste for
the tongue and smell for the nose. More than the passions themselves is harmful
their thought, their lust.
That is why the divine masters have always called upon man to understand that as
he goes on indulging in the pursuit of the worldly materials and their bad
effects, he will go farther and farther from God, forget the Almighty and fall a
victim to the worldly pleasures (Maya). When do the desires end? When are the
ambitions no more? It is such a fire which will never say 'no' to the fuel. It
is said also :
MAYA MARI NA MAN MARA, MAR MAR GAYE SHARIR;
ASHA TRISHNA NA MARI, KAH GAYE DASS KABIR..
As soon as the desire for one thing is satisfied, the urge for another follows.
Every time man thinks that he will not ask for anything more if he gets this
particular object. But he starts wanting something else as soon as the earlier
want is satisfied. For example, man thinks that if he gets a child, he will not
need anything more. But is he satisfied later the child is born? No. Now he
needs money, he needs wealth, since he has to bring up the child, arrange for
his education and then his marriage. In this way so many other things get
included in the chain. O man! This chain will never end and you will remain
involved in this vast material world (Maya).
The material world is like darkness that bewilders man. But if the mind is
enlightened by the sun of God-knowledge, Maya gets pushed into the background
automatically. Just as when we stand with our face towards the sun, our shadow
goes behind and if we stand with our back towards the sun, the same dark shadow
is in our front, similarly the worldly materials do not affect or harm us when
our face is towards God. We must, therefore, always remember God. God must
remain in our mind even after we leave the congregation (Satsang) and move in
the world, deal with others, interact with others. If we remember God, the
material world will not be able to confuse us, to deceive us.
Maya is like a dream. Under its influence, even falsehood appears to be truth.
For example, even a rich man possessing lot of wealth may in a dream find
himself in a lonely place, thorns picking his body, no water to drink, wandering
in the scorching heat of the sun. In reality he remains a moneyed person but in
dream he finds himself in horrible poverty. He spends the whole night in thorns,
the sun and bears all the agonies. He finds himself suffering from their effect.
What is the greatest service that we can do to such a person so that he is saved
from the misery? It would, of course, be to wake him up. The moment he is taken
out of the slumber, all his agonies will be over. Awakened, he will realise the
reality, full of comfort, full of peace.
Similarly, man has forgotten God and is in deep slumber. He is pained by
dreadful dreams where, of course, there is no truth, no real pleasure, no real
calm. The reality is that God is the only truth. As soon as somebody wakes man
up from the slumber of Maya, he is face to face with the reality and stands
rescued from all his agonies and miseries of the world. Surely he will find
happiness in life and salvation thereafter.
So long as a person doesn't wake up, he does not realise that he is asleep. So
long as he is asleep, he is not aware of the fact that he is sleeping. It is
only when he wakes up that he realises that until a minute ago he was asleep, he
was in slumber, he was dreaming and accepting the dream as reality. He comes to
know that it was in the dream only that he was wandering and some thorns were
pricking his feet. Although in reality he was sleeping on the bed, in dream he
was finding himself walking on the thorns and feeling the pain also. He was in
agony, he was in distress. That is why spiritual masters observed :
KABIR SUTA KYA KARE,
UTH KE NA JAPE MURAR.
O Man! Where are you wandering? You haven't lost much even now. You have still a
chance. Give up passion for false hopes; start loving the truth. This message
was being given earlier, it is being given today also. Earlier also the people
who heeded for it, received happiness. Those who heard the voice, believed it
and acted upon it in those days became happy. Even today, if we follow it, we
can enjoy.
Lost in the false multitude of the world under the influence of wealth, man
forgets the Almighty. It is just like a child in a fair. He continues to watch
the round about unaware of the fact that he came to the fair with his father. He
is happy watching the round about and forgets even his father. The round about
halts after 5 - 10 minutes. Suddenly the child discovers that he is alone. He
looks for his father here and there. When he does not find him, he weeps.
Similarly, O Man! You have also come to the fair of the world. If you forget
your father, the Almighty, leave divine hand, you have to repent as soon as the
fair ends one day. Since man forgets God in the fair called world, his mind is
in misery, in agony.
The thirst of the soul is never quenched by the worldly materials. The soul
lives on spiritual enlightenment and devotion, without which it remains
miserable. We may collect everything available in the world, utilize all the
resources, but will not feel satisfied. It has not been possible to determine
the extent of worldly materials and other ambitions where man could be declared
as satisfied. It is such a fire that will never say 'no' to the fuel, whether we
put a small stick or a big tree or even the entire wood in the forest into it.
Similarly, human desires have no end. They continue to exist. Then, where do we
find satisfaction ? It is found when we realise God, acquire the wealth of its
Name in abundance. A person who links himself with God, becomes content. His
life is filled with contentment. He remains happy in every situation treating it
as the will of God. He is happy to act as per the divine will.
Man thinks that worldly materials are a source of happiness, but he is mistaken.
They are not always able to produce happiness.
That is why spiritually enlightened persons do not hanker after the worldly
materials. They spend their life with the spirit of contentment. We find that
there has always been dearth of worldly materials in the life of saints. Whether
we refer to Kabir, Ravidas or Shabri, we find that they did not possess many
items of worldly wealth, such as a good house. But the joy they received is rare
to be found. They did not accept the worldly materials as the source of
happiness. For them the source of real pleasures, the source of real happiness
was this God Nirankar. They associated themselves with God and lived happily.
The worldly wealth (Maya) is bound to decay, but wealth of God-knowledge or the
Name of God is ever lasting. This wealth stands by you in this world. It will
also stay with you when this body is no more. All other materials are meant for
the body. After death, this body does not go with you; the worldly materials
also stay here. We here the example of Alexander, the Great. He conquered a
large portion of the world and collected all the wealth from the kingdoms he
defeated. But when he left this world, both his hands were empty. Nobody can,
however, steal the wealth of the Name of God, nobody can burn it. Whosoever
receives this wealth, remains happy in this world.
This colorful world, full of wealth, may appear to be fascinating, but it has no
value in comparison to the diamond that we may possess in the form of God. The
worldly wealth is like glass (Kanch), while God is the truth (Sanch). The man
who thinks that his future is bright with the glass, is utterly mistaken.
Whenever the opportunity comes it is the diamond that will sell. The glass will
just be thrown away. Once upon a time, a man found something glittering. He kept
it with him the idea that it was a valuable diamond that he had found suddenly.
He started spending lavishly. He began to take loans from people. He thought
that the value of the diamond will increase with the passage of time and he
would be able to clear all his loans by selling the same. Then, one day he took
the diamond to a jeweller and wanted its price. The jeweller examined the piece
and said, "For this I can give you two rupees" The man said, "This is a diamond
and you are offering me only two rupees. This petty amount may not buy even an
ordinary thing." The jeweller said. "Look brother! I am paying this, because you
have travelled all the way. Otherwise, I don't need this piece of glass."
The man went to another jeweller. He also gave him the same reply. Then he
approached two or three other jewellers. The response remained the same. He
became upset and did not know what to do. The faces of all his creditors came to
his mind. He was caught in a problem, he was in trouble.
We must also consider as to what price will be fetched at the end by these
worldly materials (Maya) which we have been treating as real and everything for
us. It will definitely fetch no price at that time and man will repent :
BAHUT GAYEE THORI RAHI, KIYA NA HARI SE HET,
AB PACHHTAYE HOT KYA,JAB CHIRYAN CHUG GAYEE KHET.
It is essential to remember God while there is time. Repenting at the end will
be of no use.
Often we refer to the UK, the USA, France, etc. as capitalist or affluent
countries. We say that they have lot of wealth. Have we ever done a little
introspection ourselves and realised as to what is the importance of wealth for
us? Do we not lose temper over others for the sake of one or two rupees? Do we
not abuse them? Do we not break age-old relations with others for the sake of
wealth? Then, why do we mention the names of these countries alone every time we
refer to wealth? This in fact relates to the state of mind. It has no relation
with the amount of wealth either. If it has its influence there, it has it here
also. If they need to save themselves there, we require to do the same here.
The desire or greed for wealth is like swamp. Once a man is caught into it and
tries himself to come out, he goes deeper and deeper into it. But if somebody
outside helps him with a rope or even with hand, the man succeeds to come out.
Exactly like this, the world is also a swamp, where there is wealth and other
materials to make man fall at every step. As we make our own efforts to come
out, we rather go down and get submerged into the same. But if we seek the
support of God, take help from saints, we are saved. It is the blessings of the
Almighty Nirankar that save us.
An unenlightened person in the world may recite the name of God but the Almighty
does not dwell in his mind. His head and heart are overwhelmed with desires,
with lust. No doubt he is mentioning the names of divine masters, his mind is
somewhere else. Sometimes he wants to take worldly gains even from the worldly
wealth remains upper in the mind. About this wealth, it is said that when it
comes, it makes one blind with ego and when it goes, it disturbes the balance of
mind and makes one mad :
DAULAT KI DO LAAT HAIN, TULSI NISHCHAY KEEN,
AYE TO ANDHA KARE, JAYE MATI MALEEN.
It means that when the worldly wealth comes, it makes man blind and when it
goes, he weeps and gets mad, loses his mental balance. In fact, man is not able
to think properly when wealth comes and he loses his sense when it goes. In both
the cases, it spreads darkness only.
Once we were coming from Mussoorie. It was cloudy all over. It was misty.
Nothing could be seen outside the vehicle. Only the people sitting inside could
be seen. But as we travelled downward, every thing became visible. Similarly, so
long as there is mist of pride and nothing is visible, we do not attach
importance to others. We can see only ourselves and we think that we have become
superior to all. But as we travel down to the level of humility, we come out of
the pride, we start realising the importance of others. Another thought came to
our mind at that time. If we cannot see anything outside the vehicle because of
the mist, it does not mean that nothing exists outside. In reality, everything
is present behind the curtain of the mist. If we think that nothing that exists,
we are mistaken. We are likely to lose the control of the vehicle, collide
against something, face problem and suffer. Similarly, as long as there is the
veil of pride in front of the eyes, man just cannot see anything, even though
every thing does exist as usual. If he is careless, he may face trouble.
This God Nirankar is omniscient and knows what exists inside the veil and
outside. This is almight and had the power to do everything. Whosoever is united
with God, he is saved from troubles. An ignorant person fails to know the truth
due to which he suffers a downfall and starts creating problems for them, giving
them trouble. He fails to understand that all this happening because of himself,
because of his pride, because he began to consider wealth to be everything.
There is a proverb in Punjabi which means "Fallen from the donkey, blames the
owner". The same is the case with the unenlightened man of the world. He falls
from the donkey of his own pride, but feels annoyed with others. He is unable to
understand the reason of his fall. The case of the enlightened person is quite
contrary. Whenever there is some hindrance in his work, he remembers God and
says, "It is likely that I have made some mistake. Perhaps I have gone astray in
the darkness of worldly pleasures. Be kind to me so that I always stay where
there is divine light. Bless me so that I can see every thing properly in the
light of the divine truth".
Man indulges in worldly pleasures and forgets God. He runs after the creation
(Maya), but fails to appreciate the greatness of the Creator (Mayapati). All
that we see produces pleasure only when we are aligned with the Creator, the
Almighty. History tells us that when Ravana went after Maya in the form of Sita,
ignoring Mayapati in the form of Rama, this caused his ruin; his Lanka was
plundered. And when the same Sita came to Ayodhya with Lord Rama, the people
celebrated it. The wealth (Maya) alone is a cause of misery, but the same Maya
proves to be a source of pleasure, if it is accompanied by Mayapati, the
Creator, the Almighty.
In fact the human soul can never receive pleasure from the worldly materials. It
is like a fish which would like to stay in water as it cannot exist without it.
We may place in abundance all kinds of attractive objects outside the water,
such as diamonds and pearls, flowers with fragrances, perfumes, sandal and so
on, and place the fish in their midst. It will not feel comfortable at all and
keep on fluttering even in the company of the precious articles. It does not
find life for itself in these materials. It finds the same only in water. You
put it back into the water, it will start playing, its life will have another
beginning. The same is true of man. The human soul derives pleasure from the
Almighty. All the wealth of the world cannot provide this divine pleasure, an
ever lasting bliss to the soul, if it is kept away from the Super Soul. This God
Nirankar is the source of all joys. It is the grace of God that there is this
world, there is life, there is movement. As we know, when the wind blows, trees
lean back and forth. If somebody says that the wind blows because the trees
move, he is mistaken. The reality is that the trees are shaken by the wind.
Maya, the worldly wealth has its own grace. But everything moves only with
Mayapati, i.e. the Creator. A person who holds the Creator in high esteem,
accepts God as the master of everything, considers that all his joys are because
of the Almighty, is really a saint. It is he who can (rightfully) ask for
pleasures of wealth (Maya) alongwith the Creator (Mayapati).
The world where we are born, where we stay, is also a creation of the Almighty
only. Not that the objects we see have been created by someone else; they all
are also the creation of God. We must value these objects. But no father will
like that the child should remain busy playing with the toys brought by him, all
the time. The father would not like that when he calls the child for something
urgent, the latter may go on loitering with the toys in his hands, not caring
for his father. No father would like such a behaviour on the part of the child.
Similarly, it will be wrong to remain busy playing with toys of Maya (worldly
wealth) and forget the Creator, the Almighty. It is this mistake that becomes
the cause of our miseries.
All the worldly relations are based on man's selfishness. Everybody is there
because of his or her self interest. While living in this world, there is
nothing wrong to deal with the relatives, but it will not be correct to remain
all the time attached to them. Man does have affection for his family. He feels
that everybody loves him selflessly. But this is not true. A person wanted the
company of a saint, to sit in congregation with him, but the love for his family
dragged him to the opposite. The saint counselled him that the worldly love is
based on selfishness, on self-interest. There is some purpose, some interest
attached to each relationship, be it elders or the youngers. The man, however,
did not agree with the saint. He asserted that the members of his family are
profusely affectionate towards him. They are prepared to do anything for him.
The saint said, "All right, there is a way by which you can test and know for
yourself as to who has how much affection for you. When you go home today, start
showing restlessness and shouting that you have pain in the stomach which is
becoming unbearable. Then you calm down and hold the breath. As soon as you hear
TU HI, TU HI in my voice, start breathing again." The man did the same. He held
his breath. The members of the family were upset to find him 'no more alive'.
Meanwhile, the saint arrived. He asked for the reason why everybody was sad. The
members of the family told him, "We do not know what happened after he returned
from you. He started crying with pain in the stomach. Now he is not even
breathing. What shall we do by living without him?" The saint told the father of
the man that there was a solution. He asked him to bring a bowl of milk. The
same was arranged. The saint recited something and blew into the bowl. Then he
said that any body could come forward and drink the milk. The person who drinks
the milk will die, while the man who is already dead will come to life again.
Everybody remained silent. The saint asked the wife to come forward, but she
said, " I am sorry, my children are too young. You know, they will get spoiled
in the absence of their mother. If they do not receive the mother's love, it
will have bad effect on their mental growth. It is essential that the mother
should live with the children".
Then came the turn of the father. He too pointed out that he had to look after
his grand children, play with them and fulfil several other responsibilities. So
he also refused to drink the milk. Similarly, all other members of the family
declined one by one. At this the saint said, "It means that none of you is
prepared to sacrifice his or her life for this member of the family. Anyway, if
you are not prepared to drink this milk, I will do". All the members of the
family agreed and said, " Yes, you can drink the milk. Saints are always for the
service of others". The saint drank the milk and gave the signal of TU HI, TU
HI. At this the man opened his eyes and said, " I have understood how much love
the members of the family have for me, how far they are devoted to me." What we
mean to say is that the worldly affections are based on self interest. Only
devotion to God is selfless. To forget God for the sake of this world is not
appropriate at all. No doubt we have to fulfil our duties towards the family,
but not by forgetting God. We must have faith in the Almighty. Even if somebody
tries to mislead us, we should remain firm on our faith for ever. The worldly
affection depends on self interest. The love of the saint or an enlightened
person is, however, pure and un-conditional. If a devotee feels the presence of
God round the clock, his love for God also remains certainly there. As we know,
if water is provided to the field, it gives good crop. But if water does not
reach the field because of some blockage in the drain, the crop will remain
weak. Similarly, if our mind is in constant union with God, the flow of our
devotion remains unobstructed, we will remain happy all the time. But in case
the flow of devotion is interrupted by a blockage in the form of greed for
wealth, ego, jealousy and hatred, this pleasure or joy will not reach us.
Therefore, the enlightened people always remember God, the divine name and pray
that they may be blessed with the company of saints so that their faith and
devotion for God are strengthened further and further.
Man gets the feeling of contentment only when he attaches importance to God
instead of worldly materials. Saints do not give importance to Maya; they
consider Mayapati as more important. They may have worldly wealth or not, they
are not upset. They are always content and feel grateful to God for whatever
little they are blessed with. They do not become proud, of they achieve
something worldly. Instead, they consider God and the man created by God as more
important. In the world today, if a poor man goes to meet a rich man, the latter
turns his back. They feel so proud of their wealth that they do not value men,
they do not respect others. But those who have integrated themselves with God,
know well that man has more value than anything else. It is essential for a
house that there should be a man. Similarly shoes have been made for the feet
and not the vice-versa. The reality, the realisation that human relationship has
to be given the first place or top priority, remains always there in the heart
of the spiritually enlightened devotee. That is why he gives importance even to
a cottage where may dwell a saint, a person dear to God:
KAKHAN DI OH KULLI
CHANGI, JIS VICH GURMUKH RAHNDA EY.
Wherever a saint
dwells, the place becomes pleasant. Why so? Because the saintly feeling, saintly
trait also stays there. Wherever we place the basket of fragrant flowers, it
adds to the splendour and beauty of the house. The fragrance spreads all around.
Similarly, a spiritually enlightened saint, who is devoted to God and remains
always integrated with the Almighty, wherever he goes, makes even the place
pleasant. The worldly relationships based on wealth break away, because wealth
is a means to satisfy one's interests. If it is not there, there is no
relationship, no honour, no respect.
A devotee was always inclined towards spirituality. He treated worldly assets as
the blessings of God. He always said that the worldly materials are only to
sustain life and not to mislead others, not to trouble others. While utilising
them, he was always guided by the feeling of devotion which kept him happy. On
the other hand, there was a friend of this spiritually enlightened person. He
always talked about wealth and cheated many for the same. With the passage of
time, both of them constructed their own houses. They grew old also. After quite
some time, one day the spiritually enlightened friend decided to search for the
other and enquire about his welfare. He reached his friend's bungalow and found
that his cot had been placed in the stable, the portion meant for animals. He
asked him, "What is the matter ? Why are you here? You have a big bungalow." The
friend said, "Yes I have a house. The bungalow in front belongs to me. But I
have no right on it." The saintly person asked him," Why ?" He replied, "When my
sons got married and my daughters-in-law came, they were all good to me. They
obeyed me. I felt happy and transferred the entire property in their names. When
they became the owners of the property, they put me here in the stable. Now
nobody cares for me." The enlightened friend said, "Then we must do something."
And he told him the way.
The next day one of the daughters-in-law passed by his room. She heard the sound
of jingling. She went and told her husband about it. She said, "Most probably
the father-in-law has kept some wealth with him which he did not disclose to
us." The man's son, however said, "I don't believe." The daughter-in-law
asserted, "You can hear it yourself." When he listened to the jingling, he could
also hear the old man counting in thousands loudly, giving an impression that he
was counting the gold coins which ran into thousands. Hearing this, they all
approached the old man the next morning and said quite respectfully, "Father!
Why are you here?" The daughter-in-law said, "I was already asking them not to
put you here. I always advised them to give you a good room. But they all did
not listen to me." Now the old man started receiving lot of respect and care. He
received good clothes and good food. After some time the old man died. His son
and the daughter-in-law decided to go to his room and search for the money he
had hidden. They searched the room thoroughly, dug the floor but found nothing
except some pieces of stone. There were some pieces of iron also, used by the
old man to produce the jingling sound. At this, they started cursing the father
as a cheat. This is the story of worldly relations. They are all based on
wealth, the worldly materials. Those who are spiritually enlightened and devoted
to God, they consider Maya, the wealth, as shadow and prefer to spend their
lives in the light of God-knowledge. When the sun is right above our head, our
shadow is the smallest. It comes within our feet. But when the sun goes down,
when it is quite low either in the morning or in the evening, our shadow becomes
quite long. It goes upto several yards even though we may be standing at the
same point. Similarly if we give the highest place to this God Almighty, all our
desires wishes and longings stand reduced, become small, meaningless. But if we
attach a very low priority to God-knowledge, try to place it down somewhere,
these shadows of Maya will become longer and longer. All these problems arise
from our desires, our narrow-mindedness, our preference to Maya. Why is the
atmosphere of our family getting vitiated? Here too, one member may consider
himself to be superior to others, thinking that he has acquired better education
and has become able to earn. Then he may start treating others with reservation.
He claims that everything in the house is meant for him. Elsewhere in the
society also we find that when a member starts earning, he keeps everything for
himself because of his narrow-mindedness. He does not think of others. A class
was going on. The teacher asked the children, "Tell me, what will be the
consequences if there is drought, there is no rain?" One of the children
replied, "I don't know about anything else. But I am sure about one thing. My
father has a shop of umbrellas. People will stop buying them." What we mean to
say is that the mind went immediately to his own house; it did not go to others,
the humanity. The child was not worried about the fact that crops would fail,
people would long for even a drop of water, the animals and birds would cry for
water and it would look like a desert all around. Similarly the attention of the
man to-say is confined to himself. That is why we find turmoil and disorder
which cause ups and downs. That is why we find discipline being violated or
vitiated. All this is happening because the shadows of Maya are being stretched
while the place of God-knowledge is being lowered.
To-day man is not moving on the right path, because he is under the illusion of
the worldly wealth, because he is in darkness. Instead of integrating with the
Truth, he is running after the pieces of glass (untruth) , because he is feeling
attached to the illusions. He is treating as true what in reality is only an
illusion. All the objects of Maya, the worldly materials, are short lived. They
do not accompany the human soul. They are not likely to your faith for the sake
of these objects. Then, there is neither any joy during life nor salvation
thereafter :
DEEN GAWAYA DUNI
SON, DUNI NA CHALI SAATH; PANW KULHARA MARYA, GAFIL APNE HAATH.
You sacrificed your
faith in God for the sake of the world. But the world left you in the lurch. In
other words you cut your feet with an axe with your own hand. The worldly wealth
does not go with anybody.
Instead of Maya or the worldly wealth, remember God, the Creator of it all. If
you give up the pursuit of the creation and praise the Creator, the former will
become your servant, do everything for you and prove to be a source of bliss. It
is said also :
PRABHUTA KO TO SAB
BHAJEN, PRABHU KO BHAJE NA KOYE; JO KABIR PRABHU KO BHAJE, PRABHUTA CHERI HOYE.