When we seek repose from the unending pressures of life, and there is none found, we cry out “give me a break!” Those pressures may involve being laid off from work, a daughter needing braces when finances are already tight, the car transmission failing, a loved one requiring hospitalization and the list goes on. With many facing a ‘cost of living’ crisis and relying on food banks, even the necessities of life can feel like a strain. At times, it is as if we are competing in a triathlon that is brutally enduring, where we can barely catch our breath.
During life’s stresses, we may seek support from our network of family and friends, who help us brainstorm and consider solutions. We may reach out for counseling, financial assist or prayer. The focus is all on us, as we attempt to climb out of the pit. For days, months, perhaps even years, it is all about us, creating a heavy burden of responsibility. After the ordeals have passed, we continue to dwell on the painful history by mentally hitting the replay button of the mind, recounting events with anyone in reach, sometimes over and over. Eventually, our manner has the effect of people stepping away, as they try to avoid our company, leaving us feeling alone and isolated. After all, they may have heard our stories time and time again.
We become so self-absorbed in our thinking, it leaves no room for anyone else. Do we consider other people’s woes? Do we find ourselves having compassion for others in their time of need? Why all the focus just on our own self? The likes and dislikes of life pull us down the rabbit hole. We live in a physical realm where we either feel pulled or repulsed by the things around us, being easily influenced by them in all our decision making, sometimes for good and sometime for ill.
Ensnared by the attachment trap of the world, we fail to ascend to higher heights. It is no wonder that we find ourselves debilitated throughout this life-long triathlon that never ends until we end. What we require, according to the Bhagavad Gita (2:56-57) is wisdom, which is expressed as follows:
One whose mind remains undisturbed amidst misery, who does not crave for pleasure, and who is free from attachment, fear, and anger, is called a sage of steady wisdom…
These noble words of Lord Krishna are perplexing to the world, but to a striving soul, they are hugely meaningful. One caught up in the material world cannot see the wood for the trees! To be unaffected by fortune or misfortune alike is to be detached. Lord Krishna further elaborates in 2:58,
…having drawn back all senses from the objects of sense, as a tortoise draws back into its shell, this person is a person of firm wisdom.
Our downward descent from a state of spiritual wholeness is forever hinged on our desires – desires that are never satisfied. Can we detach from our desires like a turtle recoiling into its shell? If only it were that easy! The very first principle of the Sant Nirankari Mission spells this out clearly. It is that the body, mind and wealth belong to God and that we are mere trustees of them. As such, ego or pride of possessions, never affects a saintly soul. We relinquish both ego and pride in possessions. We use God’s gifts, not as owners but trustees, never allowing ego to prosper.
Therein lies the problem. Ego, due to the reasons of wealth, status, power or control, brings us to a state of arrogance that places us above others. When we consider ourselves as the highest, our concern for others is the lowest. Our personal, often selfish needs, dominate the agenda. The development of human regard for others then withers on the vine, as ego incites us to exploit people to our advantage. It is no wonder that civilizations have evolved in the manner that they have, giving rise to war and slavery.
Though human history is not completely doom and gloom, for pockets of love do flourish, bringing hope for better times. Many inspired personalities and institutions are working hard to solve problems and better the human experience. Whilst some of these efforts can be traced back to the drive for wealth, status, power or control, if there is the glowing light of spiritual wisdom, the darkness cannot envelop us.
So, how do we measure the degree to which spirituality guides our human conduct? What is the baseline measure? Acceptance and connection is the starting point – this we must all work to achieve and propagate. First things first – we must know our Creator God, who is the source of infinite love and wisdom. This knowing is not to be confined to the academic domain, wherein we merely read about God or hear sermons about Him, but in the actual sense of realizing God, a revelatory experience through one who has attained oneness with the Supreme Power. Such a being is called Satguru, and we are fortunate to have found this presence within Her Holiness Mata Sudiksha Ji. The Revelation of God amounts to meeting God where God is, and connecting with Him in a way that helps us to resonate with Him. This connection with God is a matter of presenting ourselves clean and devoid of our vices. We must meet God with virtues, because virtues place us on God’s ground. Living a virtuous life is living the God-Realization, given by the Satguru whose time-honored teachings, never to be deviated from, are an ever-constant and stable guide for humanity to experience a life of spiritual fulfilment, here and hereafter.
Though this sounds easy and straight forward, spiritual wholeness still seems like a dream that has yet to penetrate our waking lives. We seem to wake up, before the dream is realised. Why is it that we drift away in our thoughts, circling back to our self-absorbed self? Let’s better understand ourselves to help gain insight into the spiritual journey.
After God-Realization, via Satguru, we also achieve, in time, Self-Realization. Realizing the ‘self’ is the awareness that we are the soul – the very soul imparted by God. Looking into the mirror, we may only see the body, when really, we are much more than this. We are the body, mind and soul, which together make up the ‘self’.
The body, being a machine, interacts with the physical world through the sensory organs, which transfer data to the mind for processing and assimilation. We may regard the mind as an artificial intelligence, given it has been programmed since birth to develop a personality, habits and instinctive reactions that keep running throughout its lifetime. The mind acts as though it is the consciousness that operates the body, but in actual truth it is not the authentic Self. The essential authentic Self is in fact the Soul.
Yet it is the mind that has been making decisions for the Self all these years, whether good or bad. All along, the Real Self – the Soul – has been dormant, awaiting the blessing of Satguru to awaken and take charge. Now with the great power of Gyan (Realization), the Soul, recognized and recharged, sets to work in reprogramming the mind in the teachings of the Satguru, establishing devotion to humility, love, compassion, tolerance and forgiveness. The once fickle mind is now calm and stable, and not drawn to the desires of the material world.
Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, 4:40-43, reminds us that –
Desire dwells in the senses (body), the mind (consciousness) and the understanding (intellect); in all these it obscures wisdom and perplexes the embodied Self (soul). Therefore, you must first control our senses, Arjuna; then destroy this evil that prevents you from ever knowing the truth. Men say that the senses are strong, but the mind is stronger than the senses; the understanding is stronger than the mind; and the strongest is the Self. Knowing the Self, sustaining the Self, Arjuna, kill the difficult to conquer enemy called desire.
We, as the Soul, must view this trio as a designed edifice by God required for us to live on Earth. We must also know we have to be in control and not let the mind pursue desires via the body that go unchecked. Most importantly to note is that the Self or Soul is the strongest within this trio, and we can conquer desires once enlightened by the Satguru. The Soul managing this trio is the true way to peace, allowing compassion to fully develop in our being.
Because the Soul prioritizes unity and oneness, we become able to turn our focus from the limited, self-absorbed self, to others. By engaging in their lives and learning of their woes, we muster the good desire to serve humanity selflessly. As Satguru Mata Sudiksha Ji has stated;
If we are to be one with Nirankar, then we have to be one with everyone.
She went on further state that we not only need to love others, but to be that love. Her statements promote the paradigm shift that humanity needs to be able to create a truly spiritual foundation that is most definitely needed in our era.
Finally, HH Baba Hardev Ji instructs in the Sampuran Hardev Bani, verse 79:
The righteous path of Truth – Nirankar,
But this path in question isn’t one that
Everyone accepts, agrees to, Nirankar,
Steps of selfishness, man readily takes
And embarks upon with ease, Nirankar
Even though innumerable burdens, he
Has to withstand henceforth, Nirankar,
Though path of sacred wisdom is hard,
Whosoever marches upon it, Nirankar,
With Guru’s grace – such an individual
Succeeds in reaching his goal, Nirankar
The path of wisdom, the blessed alone,
Can righteously keep-pursue, Nirankar,
One characterised by hubris, can never
Pursue n’ abide by rectitude – Nirankar,
Domain of joy – if you desire to inhabit,
Then eliminate your egoism – Nirankar,
Hardev states – each and every second
Acquire, ever live by wisdom, Nirankar
HH Baba Hardev Ji clarifies the mind’s place in the coalition of the body, mind and soul, where the mind is not controllable unless we follow Satguru’s wisdom. Keeping the mind in check and using the body-mind as a vehicle to spread Nirankar’s love, is the true goal of mankind, and this is the confluence of spirituality and humanity, led by the soul.
– Daniel J. Slebodnik, Maryland, USA
