Our own personal experiences, together with the world around us, fashion our personality. This is why the Ying and Yang experiences that I have are not the same as others. They are different because of the differences in class, culture, religion, and of course the individual likes and dislikes. Hence, the experiences of a person born in Japan are never the same as those of a person from Russia.
The world is full of diversity, like the colours of the rainbow, but we sadly see this as setting us apart from one another. In a divisive state of mind, we fail to recognise our shared merit and beauty. The root cause of this perspective is the concretised identity that defines us. This identity creates our friendships, tastes in music, clothes we wear, and practices we embody. We connect to what we identify with, and disassociate ourselves from what we do not identify with. This seems to be the state of the world.
However, there is another philosophy at play, which the Sant Nirankari Mission advocates. It holds that our relationship with our fellow-human beings runs deeper than our so-called individualised identity. It teaches that our real identity – the inner self – is not founded on our experiences. It is already innately there, but we have to find it.
Unaware of such identity, we look for stability in the world around us through the fulfilment of desires, ambitions, greed and passionate love. But the temporal pleasures, however many, can never be conducive to experiencing the Permanence. Ultimately, these will never lead to peace in themselves. These pursuits – rooted in the ego, and known as Manmat – can never bring us happiness, no matter how hard we try.
What needs to be done, according to the Satguru – the contemporary spiritual Mentor – is to live a life of wisdom or Gurmat. This entails removing the identity created from personal experiences, and replacing it with the identity of God. His Holiness Nirankari Baba Hardev Singhji used to quote a verse from the Sikh scripture;
The enlightened being is, in essence, formless;
he, himself, is the Formless1
For the essential identity to come to the fore, our ego has to be sacrificed at the door of the Satguru. In so doing, our mind no longer gets occupied with the world. Instead, it is occupied with the light of God. As a result, our lives become beautiful, purely because of our true identity.
If God is love, we too become the epitome of love by realising ourselves through the Gnostic Knowledge, the Gyan.
The identity that I now hold, is one of peace and balance, rooted in the stability of Nirankar – the Formless, who is never swayed by the material world, coloured by honour or dishonour, nor does it ever indulge in criticism. When we bind ourselves to Him, we acquire the same attributes.
We shall no longer chase our sense of Self anymore. In putting down our spear of ego, we allow the light of the Gyan to enter our hearts. The mind is no longer clouded by physical differences or the ills of doubts and delusions. It goes into the world, calling everyplace its home.
Satguru calls this state freedom, whereby we free ourselves from the ego of the mind and connect to the eternal light. This luminance blinds us to superficial differences. There lies no stranger at our door; all are welcome. We become like a river, which does not question as to who wishes to drink from it. It serves without any conditions.
Every deed and thought is done in Satguru’s will. But it is important to remember that taking this identity does not mean you forgo the personality you have built. Rather this realisation strengthens it into something far greater than what it thought it was. It is no longer built on ego, and crippled by complacency. It blooms like the sweetest of flowers, beautifying whatever it touches. When riddled with thorns, there is nothing but pain and discomfort. But in Satguru’s company, you acquire a path that heals, rather than hurts.
Jesus asked that I build my house on rock, not sand2. It means my identity should be firm in God. It does not mean we should all take the same personality. Even the Mentors in our very own Mission reflected different personalities. But they taught us to recognise that we are all of the same identity. Realising God in yourself and others brings the feelings of Oneness. There is no room for division when the mind understands that we are all made from the same ream of cloth. The feeling of Me and Mine drifts into Thee and Thine.
Above all, the light of God knowledge changes our experience of the world by seeing things through the spiritual eye. It is truly a magnificent sight to behold. What used to weigh us down is removed. No longer do anger, depression, anxiety and loneliness hold us hostage. Hardships may well remain, but we become more tolerant and accepting.
Every human being is a Godly being. Through the advent of the Gyan, we no longer limit ourselves in love for the body of another but fall more deeply in love with the soul that resides in each person. The Master has given me the ability to overcome the body by connecting to that which has no body – Nirankar.
Satguru is the awakened one, and it is her Knowledge that awakens the world, allowing us to see clearly. Without this vision, we remain lost in our own separate identities and stumble at every step. Once we have fully realised that we are not just individual waves but connected inseparably within the vast ocean of Nirankar, we attain a collective consciousness which guides us through life.
– Arman Musafir, Peterborough, UK
