DHARAM PRACHAR(KHOJI)LEKH NO.13

LEKH 13 Part 3 DHARAM PARCHAAR

It is stated in a radio that, to get a good harvest there is a need for

1. Healthy and hardy seeds (Intuitive knowledge or Naam)
2. A field that has been ploughed (mind)
3. Good supply of sufficient water (Satsang –holy congregation)
4. Protection from disease (bad company)
5. Sufficient fertilizer (faith- conviction)
6. Effort (cultivation of the practice of Naam)

This formula applies exactly to our religion too. Since the dawn of ages ‘intuitional’ knowledge in the form of the ‘seed’ has been revealed through gurus, demigods, prophets for the salvation of human beings. But because the sub-conscious and the mind are polluted and diseased, religion has not flourished within us. How can the plant of religion, nurtured with wrong fertilizers, grown from diseased seed on diseased ground, receiving polluted water in a diseased environment, ever flourish.

1 The religious rites, rituals and hypocrisies which are seen, are plundered by the Messenger of Death, the ultimate tax collector. 747
What hope is there of getting good fruits from that tree? The fruit that such a plant produces, that too is diseased and this in turn can cause the off-springs of these plants to be diseased. In the same way how can religious preachers who have been born and bread in a diseased environment of religion, give a lofty-pure mental, religious and spiritual guidance to life.

2 The self-willed manmukh may perform chants, meditations, austere self-discipline, fasts and devotional worship, but his sickness does not go away.
Deep within him is the sickness of excessive egotism; in the love of duality he is ruined. 732

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1 Outwardly, he wears religious robes and he is very clever, but his mind wanders in the ten directions.
Engrossed in ego, he does not remember the Word of the Shabad; over and over again, he is reincarnated. 732

All this is literally taking place right before our eyes but nobody seems to see the need or has the courage to sense the decline or raise a voice against it.
Our out going, ego ridden mind , out of its own doing, for no apparent reason, has increased its involvement in useless materialistic routines to such an extent and got itself so absorbed, that there is no time or the need is not felt to attend to the lofty spiritual aspect of religion. We are indeed satisfied catering to public opinion, making a public display or just carrying out routine external hollow rites and rituals and by giving our mind empty , false consolation (that we are religious) we are cheating ourselves.

On the other hand by using religion for our own personal ends, solving family problems, winning court cases, getting rid of diseases, passing examinations, maintaining jobs, seeking material gains and fulfilling numerous other life’s normal needs, we are degrading religion. In other words we have turned religion into some kind of business venture and in this so called religious transactions we have increased commercial competition to such an extent that religion has been made ‘very expensive’ and placed beyond the reach of the poor masses.

Religion was supposed to lift us out of materialism, but we have given it the hue of materialism and reduced it to the level of commercialism. The glaring proof of all this is that we are openly and boldly selling Gurbani in the form of ‘paath-pooja’, kirtan-katha, and discourses. And that too in competition – at high prices.

This lofty and pure religion which was supposed to save and free us from the ‘serpent’ of materialism, we have made it into an object of materialism and now this ‘serpent of materialism is consuming us all. Who is there to save?

Under the influence of Western society a large number of our people are apostates and do not feel the need for religion.

If a person by virtue of his past deeds, or under the influence of today’s environment, displays a tendency towards religion, that too is based on false

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and wrong beliefs which are entwined in the traditional ‘practices’ of rites and rituals. This cone of self – imagined hollow religious beliefs, is itself a ‘prison’ in which the (practitioner) experiences full satisfaction. For such a person there appears to be no need for some other ‘Divine Knowledge’ or lofty religion.

From within this (group) for the sake of material gains and selfish needs, some people armed with a bit of knowledge – some read some heard sakhian, proclaim themselves to be ‘religious preachers’ and trap the simple and innocent masses in hollow intellectual knowledge and life-less rites and rituals, in which, they themselves have no faith or are alien to them.

Those who have earned divine practice in their previous births, they are not convinced by this hollow knowledge and life-less methods. Within their innate being, hunger for lofty, divine experience keeps knawing them. To satisfy their divine thirst, they immerse themselves into ‘research’.

From among these, some seekers, through many types of yogic practices may begin to experience the miracle of occult and divine power. With these unusual, strange, novel experiences and miracles, their mind gets so attached to these things, that going beyond ‘their real self’ they proclaim themselves to be sadhus, sants, gurus, mahatamas, pirs, fakirs and absorbed in this display, they consume themselves and keep the masses entangled in their thread-amulets, charms, mantars, ash, paath, worship etc. In this way they too remain empty and divorced from the next lofty and pure plane.

In the first two lekhs on ‘religious preaching’ it has been explained that the foundation of our ‘religious preaching’ is based on haumai – egotism. This is the ‘play’ of the intellectual plane which operates according to the rules of the ‘Law of Karma’. All this is within the sphere of egotism of ‘trigun’ in which the world of duality is based on self-imagined knowledge. We do Gurbani paath, sing, follow the set traditions, do as the ‘Joneses do’, satisfy the public, compelled into doing something (not because you want to do it) for materialistic gains or personal self interest. Not satisfied with all this, we also put on a superior complex and look down upon others and keep imposing sanctions.


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We have no time to pay attention nor do we feel the need to, or knowingly we pretend to be unaware of, the lofty – pure ‘Intuitional Divine Play’ that is mentioned in Gurbani.

In the earlier lekhs it has been mentioned that rites and rituals of the external intellectual religions are essential for motivation and guidance towards lofty – pure ‘intuitional divine religion’. Just as it is not possible to reach the destination without travelling and it is not possible to climb to the flat roof top without a ladder, in the same way to reach the intuitional, divine, ‘illuminated realm’, it is mandatory to nurture the physical, mental and religious rites - rituals and controls. But this religious practice is :-

the effort not the ‘results’.
the method not the ‘fulfillment’ .
the journey not the ‘destination’.
the knowledge not the ‘illumination’.
the perseverance not the ‘grace of the Guru’.
the ladder not the ‘pinnacle’.

But we have taken the practice of external rites - rituals to be the ‘destination’, the ‘fulfillment’ and are ‘contented’ with these; but that which is lofty, pure, virtuous, beautiful, that love, affection, relish, Divine joy and bliss (which emanates) from ‘the spiritual realm’, the ‘divine realm’, (about all that) we are sitting-by, oblivious, unconcerned, careless or feigning ignorance .

In our ignorance with:-

lower tendencies,
base thoughts,
party politics,
jealousy-enmity,
hatred-enmity,
the desire for the ‘chair’,

we have reduced our ‘religious places’ into:-

‘centres’ of jealousy – enmity
‘spheres’ of egotism
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‘arenas’ for expressing anger
‘sources’ for (projecting) worldly self interest
‘commercial centres.

The painful thing is that in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, whom we accept as our ‘Spiritual Guide’ and ‘Guru’, in the name of religion and (acting) completely against the teachings of Gurbani, we make an open display of:-

jealousy-envy
enmity hostility
greed-self interest
anger
ego,

and by showing gross disrespect for Guru Maharaj, we ourselves are exposing (or exhibiting) the ‘decline’ of our own religion.

This whole thing is currently happening in spite of massive religious preaching. Compared to previous times, nowadays:-

gurdwaras
libraries
study circles
missionary colleges
‘paath’ reading of scriptures
turning the ‘rosaries’
satsang programmes
rain sabaa-eeaan (whole night kirtan sessions)
kirtan arenas
talks and discourses
religious books
religious preaching
religious writings
kirtan tours
Sukhmani societies


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the ways and means of propagating preaching through:-

radio
video

cassette
loud speakers etc.

have increased tremendously, but our religious and divine level is continuously on the decline whereas ‘religious corruption’ is on the increase.

It is clear from this religious ‘decline’ that there is a serious defect in the channel of our religious preaching.

Through the gravity of lower tendencies ‘religion’ has unexpectedly contacted some ‘disease’. We have contaminated the religion and religious institutions with the infection of lower tendencies like greed, desire, jealousy-envy, enmity-hostility, fanaticism, hatred, debates-disputes, quarrels, fights etc. In such a base and corrupted environment our ‘sangat’ or congregation too has become that is:-

superficial
emotionless
dry
unexciting
faithless,
ceremonial
hollow
ego ridden
attached to materialism
loveless
jealousy –envy filled
enmity-hostility filled
(one that ) show off
lacking in spiritual ‘infection’.

The state of our religious decline and corruption has been depicted in Gurbani as follows:-
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1 They read scriptures, and contemplate the Vedas; they practice the inner cleansing techniques of Yoga, and control of the breath.
But they cannot escape from the company of the five passions; they are increasingly bound to egotism. 1
2 O Beloved, this is not the way to meet the Lord; I have performed these rituals so many times.
I have collapsed, exhausted, at the Door of my Lord Master; I pray that He may grant me a discerning intellect. Pause
3 One may remain silent and use his hands as begging bowls, and wander naked in the forest.
He may make pilgrimages to river banks and sacred shrines all over the world, but his sense of duality will not leave him. 2
4 His mind’s desires may lead him to go and dwell at sacred places of pilgrimage, and offer his head to be sawn off;
but this will not cause the filth of his mind to depart, even though he may make thousands of efforts. 3
5 He may give gifts of all sorts — gold, women, horses and elephants.
He may make offerings of corn, clothes and land in abundance, but this will not lead him to the Lord’s Door. 4
6 He may remain devoted to worship and adoration, bowing his forehead to the floor, practicing the six religious rituals.
He indulges in egotism and pride, and falls into entanglements, but he does not meet the Lord by these devices. 5
7 He practices the eighty-four postures of Yoga, and acquires the supernatural powers of the Siddhas, but he gets tired of practicing these.
He lives a long life, but is reincarnated again and again; he has not met with the Lord. 6 641
8 One who does not practice what he preaches to others, shall come and go in reincarnation, through birth and death. 269

9 Kabeer, those who only preach to others — sand falls into their mouths. They keep their eyes on the property of others, while their own farm is being eaten up.
10 Some worship the stone idol and others wear a lingam around their neck.
Some recogise God in the south and others bow their heads towards the west.
Some ignorant ones worship the images and others worship the dead.
The entire world is engrossed in false rituals and none knows the mystery. 30
Guru Gobind SinghAkal Ustat

Actually religions were created to eliminate our ignorance about materialism and give us the right and lofty direction towards God. But slowly under the influence of ego and duality, differences, jealousy-envy, enmity-hostility, fanaticism and the hue of hatred, these religions have themselves become the cause of (the practice of) lower tendencies. The painful result of all this is apparent before our very eyes. For this reason, these so called religions and their preaching in this ego ridden world of the realm of ‘trigun’ is dependent upon the different mind generated knowledge. All this is the play of ‘the materialistic realm of trigun’.

11 The Yogis, the celibates, the austere penitents, and all sorts of clever people have failed. 537
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1 Egotism is within all bodies; through egotism, we come to be born.
Egotism is utter darkness; in egotism, no one can understand anything. 2
In egotism, devotional worship cannot be performed, and the Hukam of the Lord’s Command cannot be understood.
In egotism, the soul is in bondage, and the Naam does not come to abide in the mind. 560

2 The world is polluted with the filth of egotism, suffering in pain.
This filth sticks to them because of their love of duality.
This filth of egotism cannot be washed away, even by taking cleansing baths at hundreds of sacred shrines.
Performing all sorts of rituals, people are smeared with twice as much filth.
This filth is not removed by studying. Go ahead, and ask the wise ones. 39

3 By Guru’s Grace, a few come to understand; they center their consciousness in the fourth state. 129

On seeing this corruption of external worldly rites and ritualistic ‘religions’, Guru Nanak Sahib took pity on man and set up a lofty-pure, stainless, extraordinary, different religion, (filled with) divine elements. The foundation of this religion was laid on ‘Divine Illumination’, ‘Naam’, a level higher than the ‘Trigun’ state, the fourth plane. He lifted us out of the ‘state of duality’, and showed us the ‘main highway’, the Word ‘Naam’, the lofty-pure Essence of Divine Knowledge of ‘Ek Oangkaar Satnaam’. This is the teaching – the teaching of the ‘Essence of Divine Knowledge’, the Word, the Naam that is expanded upon in Gurbani.

Gurbani is our faith, (our) Guru and the teachings incorporated in it give us physical, mental and spiritual ‘guidelines on life’. It lifts us out of the plane of egoistic trigun and encourages and motivates us towards the illumination of the ‘fourth level’s divine plane’.

In this way Gurbani is for us:-
‘the direction of life’
the foundation of religion
the ‘light of the universe’
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the magnetic ‘touch’
the divine ‘illumination’
the fountain of’ immortality’
the ‘current of life’
the ‘offering of life’
the ‘gift’ of spirituality
the ‘Word’
the gift of love
the ‘Naam’
the ‘faith’ (filled love)
the ‘Guru’

If we want to do Gurbani Paath and sing (as well) then we have to:-

1. learn Its literal meaning,
2. understand Its implied meaning,
3. contemplate upon Its intrinsic meaning,
4. (and then only) experience the ‘magnetic touch’ or the taste of the ‘Naam.

When we talk to someone, it is essential that the attention of both parties should be at the same level. Only then it is possible for their thoughts and emotions to make ‘contact’ and the right response, communicative interaction and association can take place.

In the same way when we read Gurbani we are (actually) talking or communicating with Guru Ji. It is only when our mind’s attention is at about the same level as the divine level at which the Bani is created, that we will be able to understand, decipher and imbibe the implied meaning of Gurbani and through the vibrations of the esteemed being of the Guru, (we will be able) to experience the innate ‘connection’ or the ‘awareness of the Being’ and the ‘illumination of Naam’ can take place.

A good analogy of the radio can be given here. If the wave length of our radio is not tuned to the wave length of Jallandar radio station, it is not possible for our radio to have communication with Jallander station and we will miss the programme from there.
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In the same way, because the attention of our mind is not in tune with the lofty-pure divine wavelength of Gurbani, we are unable to obtain the full intuitional benefit of Gurbani and the innate connection with the illustrious self of the Guru does not take place. For this reason the transaction or communication of the divine world’s ‘Treasure of Truth’- ‘Naam’ does not take place for us and our monotonous, insipid, ego-ridden materialistic life is suffering away, ensnared and entrapped in false deeds and materialistic attachments.

1 Being entangled and enmeshed in the love of false occupations the whole world has perished. 133

2 Those who forget the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and become attached to greed and fraud, are engrossed in the entanglements of Maya the enticer, with the fire of desire within them. 1413

3 Fareed, the faces of those who forget the Lord’s Name are dreadful. They suffer terrible pain here, and hereafter they find no place of rest or refuge. 1383

4 Those who have forgotten the Naam, the Name of the Lord, are deluded by doubt and duality. Those who abandon the roots and cling to the branches, shall obtain only ashes. 420

4 O Nanak, the blind, ignorant fools do not remember the Naam, the Name of the Lord; they involve themselves in other activities. They are bound and gagged at the door of the Messenger of Death; they are punished, and in the end, they rot away in manure. 648

Our religious preaching too is becoming insipid and superficial due to a similar situation of ‘lack of focus’ and fallacies of ignorance. It has no capacity to stimulate the tender borders of our heart or the soaring flights’ of divine emotions and we lose out on the ‘divine illumination’ or the ‘relish of love’.

6 He teaches, but does not practice what he preaches; he does not realize the essential reality of the Word of the Shabad. 380

7 Everyone speaks of wisdom and meditation; but bound in bondage, the whole world is wandering around in confusion. 728

8 The world is like a crow; with its beak, it croaks spiritual wisdom. But deep within there is greed, falsehood and pride. 832

9 Everyone talks about spiritual wisdom and spiritual knowledge. Talking, talking, they argue, and suffer. 831

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1 By preaching sermons, one’s doubt is not dispelled. Everyone is tired of preaching and teaching. 655

2 Without the Naam, what is the use of spiritual wisdom and meditation? 905

3 This is the essence of karma, righteous conduct and spiritual wisdom, to chant the Lord’s Name in the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. 866

A simple example of our ‘inattentivness’during paath (or reading of scriptures) is being given:-

4 Other efforts are of no use to you. Joining the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, vibrate and meditate on the Naam, the Name of the Lord. 378

First line: ‘Other efforts’
We have never ever pondered on what the ‘other efforts’ are that are going to be of no use to us. As a routine, ‘without thinking’, without understanding we keep on doing paath (or reading the scriptures). The ridiculous thing is that those ‘other efforts’ that are going to be of no use to us are the very ‘other efforts’ that we keep on doing day and night, efforts in which we are ‘intoxicated’ and ‘absorbed ‘. The surprising thing is that while we fully scrutinise. evaluate and analyse every other type of work in our materialistic life, we have found no need to analyse this line from Gurbani, and the question has never arisen in our mind that if our ‘other efforts’ are not going to be of any use then what are those efforts that will be of use.

Second line: ‘Joining the sadh sangat’
(In this line) there is explicit exhortation and firm command that while residing in the ‘company of holy souls’:-

The work you have to do is to ‘meditate on the Naam’ that will be of use to us, that will help us in this world as well as the next.

But to start with we do not even know what ‘sadh sangat’ is? And neither is there any need felt to do sadh sangat because we are so absorbed and intoxicated in our self created useless routines that we find it unnecessary to bring into our attention any other lofty-pure feature.
‘meditate upon only the Naam’.
We do not have knowledge of the ‘Naam’ nor do we know ‘meditation’ or
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simran. There doesn’t seem to be a need to pay attention to the mandatory ‘command’. Let alone making any effort.

The word ‘only’ needs careful attention:
This means that we are firmly commanded to meditate exclusively on the Naam - do simran. Apart from this, every other deed or routine activity will not be of any use.

From the above example it is clear that the bani we sing and the paath that we do, is done in a state of inattentiveness, non-understanding and parrot like. In our life we have no time to understand, discuss and cultivate Gurbani, nor do we feel the need, or knowingly we pretend to be indifferent and deliberately feign ignorance.

The painful thing is that the ‘rites and ritual’ from which the Gurus extricated us (got us out), we have once again got ourselves trapped into them and we are absorbed in them to such an extent that we have:-

no knowledge
no interest
no need
no effort
no inclination
no love
no desire
no time
no faith

in the innate divine ‘goal’ or essence mentioned in Gurbani. The result of all this is that we are:

indifferent
ignorant
unknowledgeable
unconcerned
feigning ignorance

about the ‘divine’ ‘essence of knowledge’ or Naam and we are unnecessarily wasting away our precious life in the external, empty, dead disciplines
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The main reason for this religious decline is our ‘ego’. In the ‘materialistic world’ of ‘trigun’, it is egotism that:-

reigns supreme
spreads
operates
rules
(brings about) darkness

(causes) doubt fallacy
is the force behind deeds
is the source of all thoughts
creates all desires
is (behind) evil and virtue

is (both) truth and falsehood
is pain and pleasure
is (behind) foe and friend
is me-mine ness
the play arena

is (behind) quarrels
is (behind) debates – controversies
is (behind)jealousy-duality
is (behind)hatred
is (behind) fights.

1 In ego they come, and in ego they go. In ego they are born, and in ego they die.
In ego they give, and in ego they take. In ego they earn, and in ego they lose.
2 In ego they become truthful or false.
In ego discussions are held on vice and virtue. In ego they go to heaven or hell.
In ego they laugh, and in ego they weep.
3 In ego they become dirty, and in ego they are washed clean. In ego they lose
social status and class.
In ego they are ignorant, and in ego they are wise. They do not know the value of
salvation and liberation.
4 In ego they love Maya, and in ego they are kept in darkness by it. Living in ego,
mortal beings are created.

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5 When one understands ego, then the Lord’s gate is known. Without spiritual
wisdom, they babble and argue.
O Nanak, by the Lord’s Command, destiny is recorded. As the Lord sees us, so
are we seen. 466

For instance the description of an elephant by the blind ones is ‘varied’, it is (therefore) wrong. In the same way in the ‘doubt ridden fallacy’ of ‘materialistic darkness’, the thoughts, contentions, religious rites-rituals of each and every person are bound to be different and their consequences too vary.

In the materialistic darkness of ‘trigun’, because of the consequences of deeds of past births and those resulting from the present interactions, the hue or colour of a person’s personality is bound to be diverse.

The differences that emerge from the materialistic ‘doubt ridden fallacy’ become the main cause of debates-arguments, jealousy, cruelty, hatred, confrontation and fights in the diversity of our thoughts, beliefs, religions, rites and rituals.

When the fire of ‘egotism’ and ‘desire’ comes into contact with these (differences), then the resulting situation is one of ‘ The whole world, entangled and enmeshed in false deeds, is unable to discover the secrets of Bhagawan – Waheguru’ and this become the main cause for the decline of our religions and we caught up and :-

1 ‘Entangled and enmeshed, the whole perishes in the attachment of false deeds.’ 133
simply waste away our precious life for nothing. And we

2 Without the Naam, everything is false and worthless. 761

are so absorbed and engrossed (in everything that is false and worthless).

Gurbani motivates our ‘diverse’, ‘ (our) love of worldliness’ infected tendency, towards ‘oneness’, ‘Ek Oangkaar Satnaam’, but with the ‘differences and intelligence’ of our tiny intellect, we temper the Bani with our own hue or colouring, and give interpretations through the ‘doubt fallacy ‘ of our ‘ego-ridden’ small intellect, and with our own hollow intellectual knowledge we give meanings to and explain Gurabani. Because we are far removed and ignorant about the deep and ‘innate intuitional knowledge’, we dilly-dally (drag our feet) when it comes to explaining the secret divine meanings of Gurabani and we keep the simple minded masses trapped with the doubt fallacies or uncertainties of our intellectual knowledge.

This is the reason why we are going astray from the divine illumination, ‘goal of life’ and guidance of Gurbani and our precious life
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is kept trapped in the fallacies and superficial talks of materialistic doubts and misinformation. To understand this subject, further examples are given below:-

Teaching of Religion Our action

is salvation giving. leads to ‘degredation’.
frees one from materialism traps one in materialism.
motivates one to meditate on God. makes one to mediate on materialism.
carries the message of oneness. promotes ‘duality’.
works for the good of others. works for self interest.
promotes good relations towards all. unable to inter-relate with others.
there is no enmity promotes enmity.
none is a stranger. all are aliens.
slander is forbidden. slander is cherished.
do good towards the bad. do bad towards the good.
liberation from attachment. strengthens the ties of attachment.
facilitates the bonding. separation thorough party politics.
protects from the fire of the ‘five’. sets fire the religion itself.
patches the hearts. tears the hearts apart.
is love. is hatred.
is the ointment of affection. diffuses the poison of jealousy & duality.
gives rise to faith and conviction is the interaction that lacks faith & trust.
is humility. egotism rears its ugly head.
creates laughter in those weeping. makes those who are laughing cry.
rejuvenates those who have wilted. wilts those who have rejuvenated.
is divine illumination. is the darkness of ignorance.

For the above discussion it is clear that according to Gurbani there are two different realms:-

1. The materialistic realm of ‘trigun’ (three strands of rajgun satgun
and tamgun)

2. The invisible, subtle realm of Divine Illumination.

To give life the right and lofty divine direction it is essential that these two realms be discussed in greater detail in the light of Gurbani:-
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A comparative study of these can be done as follows:-

‘Trigun’ world of materialism Divine World

is gross. is subtle.
not permanent. is eternal.
is ever changing. is ever constant.
is one of many forms. has only one form.
is destructible. is everlasting.
is falsehood. is truth.
is an illusion. is reality.
is darkness. is light.
is born through the ‘Word”. is self created.
is the ‘play arena’ of egotism. is the ‘play’ of ‘hukam’ or Will.
is duality. is ‘one and only one’.
is evil cum virtue is only goodwill.
is the ‘terrible ocean of grief’. is one that ferries across.
is ‘bound in deeds’. is truly free.
is limited in intellect. is intuitional illumination.
is the ‘fiery ocean of grief’. is the coolness of God’s Naam.
is the fire desires. is free from desires.
is the ‘pyre of worry’. is free fro grief.
is ‘night’s inn’. is the palace of the true-home.
is diffused in attachment & materialism. is ‘blemish less illumination’.
is a ‘fleeting taste’. is the eternal supreme savor.
is the store-house of sorrow. is the exterminator of sorrow.
is absorbed in baser tendencies is wondrously imbued with divine hue.
has enmity, antagonism, jealousy. is at one with all.
houses only superficial peace. is the benefactor of peace.
is under the rule of ‘five’ (demons). is the reign of ‘love’.
is separation. is true communion.
is death. is ‘eternal life’.
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is the confusion of materialism is Divine silence.
is the odour of hatred. is the welling up of love.
is the play of ‘trigun’s’ materialism. is the game of love.
is time bound in past present and future. is only the present, the now ness.
are dealings taken on credit. are cash dealings.
is intellectual cleverness. is Divine Will.
is self-will. is the command of the Divine Will.
is fanatism. is equipoise.
is (the culture of) take-take-take. is give-give-give (all the time).
is fear. is fearlessness.
is the arduous ocean. is the ‘Realm of Truth’.
is anger-grievance. has no trace of anger-grievance.
numerous so called religions exist. only one Divine religion exists.
These religions are imposed from without. essence of region germinates from within.
the stink of materialism pervades. the fragrance of Naam permeates.

In this series on religious preaching, let us reflect upon the three lekhs and carry out a discerning scrutiny into our short comings, mistakes, faults, superstitions and habits. To reform our oncoming religious life and give it a true and lofty direction, these contrasting viewpoints, together with the comparisons made below will be very beneficial and helpful as we analyse ourselves.

Aim of Gurbani Our religious activity & its aim

1. The reference to the innate intuitional ‘realm’, its expression, its knowledge, the ‘word’, ‘naam’, ‘amrit’, ‘God’s elixir, the ‘goblet of love’, ‘divine illumination’, ‘supreme relish’, ‘jingling (sound current), ‘wondrousness, ‘awesomeness’, ‘intoxicated ness’ and more such words have been clearly given in Gurbani.
1. This intuitional, divine ‘realm’ is beyond the grasp of our thinking and intellect and because of this, we have no faith whatsoever or it is superficial and does not attract us. For this reason, there doesn’t seem to be a reason to make an effort.
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2 This divine knowledge manifests itself innately only ‘through intuition’. In this there is faith and longing in Ek Oangkaar-the One Eternal God. This faith and longing is nurtured in the love of the soul within the self.
The external intellectual knowledge of ‘trigun’ can be heard and relayed, learned and taught, understood and explained. All this can be acquired externally. This knowledge, because it emerged from various thoughts and beliefs, can become the cause of debates and objections, enmity and confrontation, tyranny, hatred, fights and quarrels.

3. This spiritual level can only be obtained according to the firm command ‘Seek the company of the evolved ones and contemplate only on the Naam’, by being in the company of the ‘sadh sangat’- the company of evolved beings’ through incessant cultivation and practice of the Naam.

But we have completely forgotten simran and the cultivation of the Naam appears needless and unnecessary.

4. Without the Naam, everything is false and worthless.761
O Nanak, only one thing is of any account: everything else is useless babbling and idle talk in ego.467

But we, forgetting the thing ‘Naam Simran’ that will be taken into account, are thoroughly absorbed in what is ‘false and worthless’, in ‘idle talk’

5. Without meditating in remembrance on the Lord, life is like a burning fire, even if one lives long, like a snake. 712

(We) are living a life that is ‘bereft of Naam’, ‘bereft of simran’, drenched in the poison of ‘another love’ (instead of God love) like the (life of a) snake.

6. The pearls are scattered on the road; the blind man comes along. Without the Light of the Lord of the Universe, the world just passes them by.1370

The ‘pearls and rubies’ that are mentioned in Gurbani, we have made them cheaper that even a worthless coin and in our ignorance
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we are officially walking over it (unable to see what is already there).
7. If His humble servant believes, and acts according to the Words of the Guru’s Bani, then the Guru, in person, emancipates him. 982/11
We do lot of sewa of Bani,, worship, exposition, kirtan, but we pay no heed to cultivating its teachings. For this reason we are devoid of ‘the emancipative (benefit) of the Guru in person’.


8. But if he eliminates his self-conceit and then performs service, he shall be honored. 474/10
I am Your slave — what clever tricks could I ever try? This soul and body are totally Yours 738/4

Behind our sewa there is some selfish need, some materialistic desire or it is ‘egotism’. We are indeed ‘slaves’ of materialism and with our cunning ness, we are absorbed in the service of ‘me-mine ness’.

It is only upon ‘effacing the self’ that one can become a ‘slave’.
We accept payment for our sewa or service. In religious institutions the people involved in sewa are all ‘salaried people’. And the ragis and lecturers sell bani at a very high price.

9. In the olden days the leaders of religious institutions used to be beloved gurmukhs with exemplary life style and blessed evolved souls.
Nowadays the leaders of religious institutions are elected through the process of popular vote. With this kind of selection process corruption, jealousy-duality, enmity-confrontation self-interest, quarrels fights keep increasing, egotism ‘reigns supreme’ and ‘noise’ is about the ‘chair’ ( seat of authority).

10. In the olden days there were few religious institutions, but in the ‘innate feeling of love’, love of sewa

Nowadays places of religious worship and institutions, gurdwaras, dharamsalas, libraries, study circles
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sewa and the beautiful atmosphere of divine relish was present in them . One could go to there and experience peace, love, affection and the joy of sewa.
have increase, but the ‘divine atmosphere’, ‘peace’, ‘life current, affection and the yearning for sewa only sometimes does it makes a superficial appearance.

11. In the by gone days the religious centers used to be fragile (not made of baked bricks) and the Sikhs were ‘solid’
Nowadays the religious centers have become solid and the Sikhs fragile (weak in their commitment to Sikhi).


12. The quality was there although the quantity was less.

Nowadays the quantity has increased tremendously but quality has decreased.
13. ‘All your other efforts will be totally fruitless. (unless) you meditate only on the Naam in the company of holy sangat – congregation in which evolved souls are present.
By blindly imitating western civilization and increasing becoming fashion conscious we have increased our worthless daily routines to such an extent that there is no time or no need to pay attention to the ‘holy sangat’ and ‘Naam Simran’. We have become so absorbed in ‘all other deeds’ that we have become the embodiment of ‘maya’ or materialism.

14. All aspects of our lives should revolve around the central instruction of Gurbani on ‘love’, ‘affection’, ‘sewa’, ‘naam’, ‘hukam’
We make use of Gurabani for our personal needs or selfish interests. We tamper the Bani with the hue of our small intellect to make it follow our mind. In this way we are drifting further away from the innate aims of Gurbani.

15. ‘Love, affection, adoration’ indeed is the ‘life current’, is ‘Naam’, is ‘hukam’.
‘Listen yea all, (I) speak the truth. He who gives love, only he shall discover God
In today’s world there is a famine in divine ‘affectionate yearning’, or ‘love of the Self within.’ If a flash of affection does appear then behind it there is some self-interest or has its roots in some attachment.

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