Report on Rev. Santosh Tandon ji's visit, April 2019

Rev. Santosh Tandon ji, Pramukh of the Sant Nirankari Mission, Los Angeles, CA branch blessed the saints in Phoenix on April 13-14 2019.

 

On Saturday, April 13, there was welcome sangat for Rev. Santosh Tandon ji at the Phoenix Bhawan. During this congregation event, the sangat was given a chance to have a question and answer session with Rev. Santosh ji where saints asked questions and clarifications. Following are key points from the Q&A session:

* All living things come into the category of maya or material things
* Sewa starts from home. Nirankar is in everyone, when we bow down and touch someone’s feet, we should feel Nirankar’s presence
* Whenever we have any trouble or difficult situation, surrender to him and tell to take care of things. When we say that Nirankar is the biggest power, then why not lean on him?

The question and answer session was followed by a discourse from Rev. Santosh Tandon ji. During the discourse she mentioned:

To make us happy and comfortable, Babaji has given us tips and tricks. He knows where we can be weak. State of mind characterizes others quality for us. If we had only 2 choice, salvation or bondage, what will we choose? No one wants bondage. Rising above from material distractions, we concentrate on Nirankar. Satguru wants us to take in the direction where we can be happy and we are peaceful.
Scriptures have tried to awaken this mind. Mind thinks where you came from and where you have to go, what is the purpose of your life. What is yog? Material things disturb mind. When mind doesn’t get disturbed and is connected to Nirankar then we are in yog. Mind is in between connection of soul to super soul. Gita goes into so much depth about mind. Mind has been the source or problem since ages. We need to be in a Steady state and not keep moving between high and low. Just like we can’t be on a roller coaster for a long time, similarly we can’t be in a state of high and low. So we need to be steady.
Krishna said to Arjuna: remember me while you are fighting. We are also fighting many fights daily, financial or health problem or relationship issues etc. So to win these battles, we need to remember Nirankar. Satsang nourishes the divine knowledge. Even the king of kings has some sort of worry. This world is like walking on a path laid with thorns. One is bound to get stuck with one.
Shahanshah ji said: when there is storm coming, if we hold a very strong tree, we will be able to protect ourselves. Similarly Nirankar is like this strong tree, if we hold him then Nirankar will protect us.
Giving the example of a saucer and plate, Rev. Santosh ji said: when the plate shakes the saucer will also shake. Similarly this world is unstable, if we don’t hold Nirankar then we will unsteady. Worldly issues will not bother us when we hold Nirankar. We have two choices, Ram and Ravan, positive or negative. Saints have left these words of wisdom. We all know what wrong Ravan did and we know we burn effigies of him every year. Ram however has so many temples. People name their kids Ram, whereas no one names their child Ravan. Ram is revered because he established some principles and followed it; how to lead a life of a son, brother, king, husband etc. If today anyone’s mother says to leave the house son will sue the mother. But Ram on the other hand, to respect his father’s promise to his mother didn’t hesitate to leave and go to exile. Sometimes mind gets noble thoughts, sometimes not. We shouldn’t think ill of anyone. When utensils are colliding with each other and making a noise, one can think that they are dancing.

 

During the Sunday congregation, saints shared their thoughts on the topic chosen from Sampooran Hardev vani verse 101: Hardev says those who render selfless service with alterness and awareness, attain true happiness. Youths also sang a song. Rev. Santosh Tandon ji shared her thoughts on verse 266 from the Sampooran Hardev Vani. She said:

We all want to be happy and experience joy, yet at times we are not in that state. Sometimes we are in stress. Mind is the center point, all our actions, thoughts, feelings are governed by mind. Mind is a tool that can take us into any direction. When we think of Satguru and Baba Hardev Singh ji we feel love, our eyes filled with tears of joy. When someone doesn’t act according to us, we speak so harsh words that we feel sad later when we think about it. Nirankar gives whatever we ask of him. So we need to ask good things when we are calm and not in anger as in anger we will ask bad things.
We have heard the story of how Draupadi made fun of Duryodhan when the Kaurav brothers visited the newly built palace of the Pandav brothers. If she had not insulted Duryodhan at that time, perhaps the Mahabharat war would have been prevented. However the consequences of that insult resulted in the devastation caused by Mahabharata war. So while in anger or in taunting anyone we shouldn’t say bad or harsh words.
Baba Hardev ji said moments make a mistake but centuries pay for the consequences.
This life is like sowing seeds on a field, we reap its crop every day. It’s up to us on what quality of seeds we are sowing. Be aware of your thoughts, words and actions. As we may have to pay for them. Seed has to germinate. So even one bad thought could have severe consequences. Sometimes mind can be cruel. For example despite being a mother, Kaekai asked Ram to go for 14 years of exile. Hryana-qashyap did atrocities on his own child when his child didn’t think of him as the supreme God. When mind is happy we give ashirwaad or blessing and when we are angry we give shraap or curse. History is full of stories on this. Mind plays games with us. It tells us to come to sangat and tells us to not go to sangat. It’s difficult to control mind. Sometimes some thoughts are so overpowering that despite our actions our mind is active. Its power is compared to that of elephant in this verse. Satguru is the only person who has the power to control mind. When we surrender to Satguru, Satguru can help us control our mind so we focus on the right things. Those whose mind has Nirankar in it, their mind is attached to Nirankar. Then mind sees the positive. We feel blessed in whatever situation we are in. When we surrender to Satguru then our mind is still and we keep calm. In the absence of divine knowledge, we try to find different ways in which we can control our mind. However we fall into rites and rituals. Mind needs Satguru’s knowledge to concentrate.
Kabir ji said: It’s no use of going over each bead of the holy garland or by reciting God’s word through our mouth, if our mind is wandering and not thinking about God.
People have tried different ways to meditate by focusing on material things, however material things are never still, therefore we fail to meditate. But when we have God knowledge and concentrate on God, Nirankar, then we can focus on him and we can meditate. God knowledge is when we get the divine knowledge, but it has to develop into God realization. Once we know God we know he is right in front of us and we can talk to him. Meera used to talk to God and people used to say she is crazy as those ignorant people didn’t know she was talking to God.
Satguru bless us that he hold our mind in one place and we can concentrate on God. We have to stay focused on our purpose of this life, which is to connect with Nirankar. Satguru has given us this understanding of God knowledge, so it acts like an insulation from the worldly matters and they don’t affect. We are here for a bigger and higher purpose.
Typically, The Bhagwat Gita front cover has an image. There are 5 horses and the Lord Krishan is steering the chariot and Arjun is riding it. Similarly we have 5 senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling & speaking), our body is chariot. We should make Satguru the chariot master. This way all our actions will be disciplined and the rider, i.e. our soul will be comfortable.
Babaji said: The horse that is out of control gets hurt and also hurts its rider. Similarly we have to keep control of our senses by imbibing this mind with divine knowledge.
We need to have patience and peach to keep our mind calm. Where there is a fire we have to become a fire fighter to extinguish the fire. Peace comes when we are attached to God. Saint loves everyone equally. We should not have ego, we should surrender. Sense of gratitude, attitude of gratitude that whatever happens through me is due to him.
In villages women typically go to a well to fetch water. Once they have the water and are carrying the bucket, they walk very carefully so water does not fall off. Similarly people who have divine knowledge are careful not to hurt anyone.
Sharing good thoughts gives us strength. Oh Satguru please bless me that I am immersed in your thoughts. Saints don’t want any material things, they don’t ask for it. Bless me so much devotion that it won’t get affected with material things.

 

 

 

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