The visit of Her Holiness Mata Savinder Hardev Ji to the UK is something I will always remember as a very beautiful and humbling experience. It served many purposes, firstly and most importantly to spread love, peace and joy. It gave us an opportunity to meet first- hand the beautiful spirit of Satguru of the time, and for the chance to bow at her feet and give grateful thanks for facilitating our meeting with Nirankar, the Formless Lord.
It was also an opportunity to be reminded of the complete and total devotion of Satguru to spreading the message of peace, love and humility. We cannot fail to be humbled in the presence of one who has given her entire life to the work of spreading the message of Nirankar. Satguru’s work will never be done, there will be no retirement, no slowing down, no slacking in the constant struggle to bring the message of peace and love to the world. And we should take inspiration from this example, be reinvigorated to continue our efforts to help spread that message, no matter how difficult that may be sometimes.
There are times when we will speak of Nirankar to family, friends and people we meet and we may be encouraged by their positive response, their genuine interest and their enquiring questions. Others may be polite in their responses but less accepting of what we are saying and then there will be those who are adamant that we are talking nonsense, there is no God, and ask us, ‘where is the proof?’ And although this may feel challenging, it is an understandable response. We are taught to question things from an early age, to look for evidence, to seek a scientific answer to the meaning of life. Challenges to what we believe should always be responded to with love and compassion. After all, no-one has ever been brought to enlightenment through hostile words.
When questioned about proof of God, I like to recall this lovely story;
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”. “Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”. The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”. The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”. The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”. The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no-one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”. “Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”. The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is she now?”. The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of her. It is in her that we live. Without her this world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see her, so it is only logical that she doesn’t exist.”. To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above”.
This is an analogy of course, but I know that I have met ‘Mother’, when I experienced Gyan. But rather than meeting for the first time, this was a reuniting, a coming back to a Mother of whom I had always been part of.
Like all relationships, that with our Mother is open to fluctuation. When we first meet, we are close, we rely on Mother for everything, food, shelter, physical and emotional support and wellbeing. We do not question, as we accept that Mother knows best and has our best interests at heart. We are totally devoted to Mother as she is to us. She will teach us to be kind and generous to others, to share what we have with other children, to offer to help others and to say sorry if we hurt someone – have you noticed how easy an apology comes to a child and how quickly he or she forgives? A child will quickly forget arguments and get back to playfulness with their friends.
But as we grow and become more self-sufficient, we rely less on Mother. We’re still aware of her and how important she is but other things begin to take priority. Friends, work colleagues, having fun, all become more important to us. We may begin to question her advice and guidance, insisting that we know best. We spend more time with friends, some who are good for us and sometimes others who have a less favourable impact on our thinking and actions. Our focus may turn away from the security of family and ‘Mother’ and turn instead to things which we perceive as being more important – owning ‘things’, being seen as successful, being the best, and we get wrapped up in ourselves. We may become less inclined to forgive and less likely to share what we have, always looking to get more for ourselves. We may do things that our Mother would not approve of and all the time, Mother is watching us make mistakes, watching us drift further from her and in some cases the bond may seem to have become completely broken.
But there will come a time when we begin to question life, what is its purpose, who are we and why are we here. We begin to look for answers to questions. We may have life experiences that make us feel vulnerable or scared. We question the world around us and the direction it is going in. We may look back to simpler times when we were sure of ourselves, when we knew that we were loved without question, when we were supported, nurtured and comforted by Mother. And we rekindle that relationship with Mother and discover that it is, and always was, the most important relationship of all. And despite the mistakes we may have made, our poor life choices, the path we have trodden, Mother has still loved us all along. She has waited patiently and hopefully, for us to return to her with fresh eyes, with a new understanding, with renewed love. She was always there, we just lost sight of her for a time.
I pray that we all cherish and value the love of Mother, which is also the love of Niranakar. May we stay forever close, at peace with ourselves and the world around us. May Satguru Mata Sudiskha Ji, who is giving us the benevolent light of Motherhood today, bless us with with courage, wisdom, love, compassion and humility.
-Maggie Fletcher
UK
