KARAAMAAT(MIRACLE) LEKH NUMBER 24

Lekh 24 ‘KARAAMAAT’ MIRACLE




When some unusual or rare and unexpected thing happens then that event is referred to as a ‘wonder’ or ‘miracle’.

To make this subject clear there is a need to discuss the under mentioned aspects -

1. Our mental state.

2. A natural wonder or divine miracle.

3. Miracles produced by the power of the intellect.

4. Miracles produced by the power of the mind.

5. Miracles produced by the divine power.

1. Our mental state

The effect of an external wonder or ‘miracle’ on us depends on our mental state.

When a child is born and he opens his eyes, every scene around him appears new, strange and upon his face can be seen a look of surprise or wonder. The reason for this is that the film of his mind is entirely blank and the child is innocent. The first scene that registers on his mental ‘film’ is itself new for the child, appearing as a strange and surprising ‘miracle’. After some time the child becomes familiar with this scene. Thereafter this ‘scene’ does not remain new or strange and he is no more surprised by it.

Similarly when lantern, bicycle, motor (cars/cycles), electricity, railway, aeroplane etc. first appeared in the backward areas, these new, wondrous scenes appeared to its people as a surprising miracle. Even today science has advanced

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so fast that daily, the new inventions that are rolling out, appear to our simple minds as new, wondrous, astonishingly miraculous events. But slowly when our mind gets used to these scenes then these very scenes become common place for us.

2. Nature’s Divine Wonders

In nature, daily according to the Divine Will, within every moment uncountable wondrous happenings or miracles are taking place. But we are so used to seeing them operate in our daily lives that, their taking place, has now become a common occurrence. We do not any more see or feel wonder or miracle in them.

Besides this our mind has been so heavily ‘grafted with the love of worldliness’, that we are incapable of understanding, contemplating and becoming aware of these nature’s ‘wonders’.

For example, from the time the rose plant germinates to the time the flower blooms numerous wondrous events take place. They have special types of branches and leaves. For their protection thorns grow. Then flower-buds appear. These flower-buds continue to grow and on maturity they bloom. In this way the flower takes its form. To create this wondrous and beauteous form of the flower,

how much effort
how much of knowledge
how much of sacrifice
how much of vigilance
how much of nourishment
how much of awaiting

nature must have put in.

We have neither the time nor the need to think or ponder about this.

This flower gives us attractive colours, wondrous tenderness, mind ravishing beauty and sweet scent.

We have not only been unable to value its innate miraculous happenings, but we are also unconcerned about its external attributes.
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This is not the end. We pluck the rose flower for our own selfish ends and use it for decorative purposes, or we may even pluck, crush and trample upon it, thereby separating it from its ‘mother’ branch. Besides this, we even boil a lot of flowers and take out its essence and use it for our own self interest.

In spite of bearing such tortures and cruelty, the flower does not hold any grievance, on the contrary it sacrifices itself to those very people who committed the atrocities and gives them its extraordinary scent and does not even complain.

In this way quietly the flower is teaching us a lesson on Gurbani through its living and forbearance.

1 Fareed, do good towards those who are bad, and anger will not to exhaust (the energy of the) mind. 1382Bh. Kabir

The ‘rose’ does not discriminate between the low and high, the virtuous and the evil, the rich and poor. It constantly continues to give its scent spontaneously, without knowing, quietly and in secrecy. In this way according to its living and forbearance of its life it is cultivating the teaching of Gurbani as stated below, and without speaking it is expounding these lessons.

2 Recognise this (O man) that all humans belong to only one caste. Patsahi 10

3 Forever benevolent forever merciful are You O Waheguru. You are forever the support of all. 713M5

4 The Perfect Waheguru does not speak in bitterness, He does not think about my short-comings. 784M5

5 Braham Giani (the one who has realised Waheguru) takes delight in doing good to others. 273M5

But our mind has become such a slag (so useless) with the ‘rust’ of worldliness that it is incapable of understanding, knowing, pondering or becoming aware of the ‘silent life story’ of nature’s just one tiny form the ‘rose’. Let alone cultivating these teachings, we are even divorcing ourselves from enjoying the divine gifts, hue, tenderness, beauty and the sweet scent that comes through the rose. In spite of all this (lack), under the influence of the power of worldliness that we have derived for our intellect, wisdom, and knowledge, we feel we are virtuous and consequently we have become swell headed.
Isn’t the ‘life-story’ of the rose flower the true representation of the Divine happenings and the amazing miracle?

In the same way there is another extraordinary example the ‘human’ form.
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From one sperm the human form takes root. Just as -

1. The child’s conception takes place in the mother’s womb.

2. The child receives nourishment in the mother’s womb.

3. The growth of all the child’s limbs take place in the womb.

4. The ‘life-current’ enters into the child.

5. The ‘reflection’ of the parents physical and mental ‘elements’ manifests onto the child.

6. The child remains a captive in the ‘fire of the womb’ of the mother for 9 month.

7. The tender body of the child is hung upside down in the ‘unpleasant’ part of the mother.

And then after the child’s birth, for the body to grow and flourish -

1. Milk comes into the mother’s breast.

2. When he is slightly older, besides mother’s milk, teeth appear, to chew the nourishment.

3. According to the age, the child’s body, speech, intellect etc. continue to develop.

4. In life the negative influences of worldliness begin to take root.

5. In the doubt-fallacy of egotism under the influence of ‘me-mineness’ he does deed and faces consequences.

6. Finally in old age all the limbs lose their power and death comes.

God made man in His image. He has also bestowed onto him unlimited powers with which man can make unlimited progress on the physical, mental and spiritual planes. There is no limit to this progress so much so, that man’s soul can merge with the ‘Unfathomable Soul’ and attain the form of the Lord God Himself.

The above mentioned ‘life story’ of man and for his progress, the heritage for unlimited potential to expand, is by itself, an astonishing and wondrous miracle.
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In the same way the varied and secret life stories of each particle of nature are the illumination or the manifestation of the living examples of divine happenings and miracles.

These natural happenings and miracles are taking place around us every moment, every second and can be visually witnessed.

But we have become unconcerned, ignorant, obdurate (inflexible) and slag-like (useless) about all these (miraculous happenings).
Their
mysterious sight
wondrous happenings
astonishing ecstasy
miracles
mind-endearing beauty

-we don’t seem to have the thought, the nor the joy or the need to discover-decipher and build up an awareness for all this.

Thus, it is because of our own disinterest and obdurateness (inflexibility), that we divorce and distance ourselves from their wonderful, mysterious, ecstasy filled

hue
relish
joy.

3. THE MIRACLES OF THE INTELLECT

Waheguru has blessed man with unlimited power. With this man is ever creating new scientific inventions and astonishing miracles are daily seen or reported.

1. We are travelling in space.
2. We have gone to the moon.
3. We are doing research about the secrets of space and outer space.
4. We are able to communicate through great distances.
5. We are using the computer to do delicate and complicated work.

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6. Through intensive reach about nature we are trying to alter nature.

7. For our comforts and personal needs we have created numerous new things.

8 To destroy the enemy we have made the most up-to-date destructive weapons (i.e. missiles, chemical war-heads etc.).

The scientific discoveries stated above and the results of other numerous scientific research are extremely astonishing intellectual wonders or miracles. These miracles have provided us with much comfort and benefit, but they have also been the cause of much pain and cruelty.

We are so involved and consumed in the expansion of materialistic knowledge that we have indeed forgotten the centre of our being. In other words in pursuing the external research of the astonishing miracles, we are doing it at the expense of divine research.

Although we have become swell headed by inventing wondrous miracles with our sharp mind, but the momentary ecstasy, relish and comfort that is obtained from the mind-enticing three phased or(tri-gu/n) worldliness, has made us completely forget or remain unconcerned about the eternal, permanent, adorable, love-filled, ecstatic, joyous and comfort-giving divine heritage.

4. THE MIRACLES OF MIND POWER

Science accepts the fact that this world has come into being and operates through the Divine ‘Word’. This means that a ‘thought’ or ‘idea’ is the ‘original seed’. When the thoughts are sharp, intense and focused, ‘power ‘ is unleash and it keeps growing. This power is called ‘mental power’.

When the rays of light fall onto a convex lens and pass through the glass, tens of thousands of rays gather together, become focused into one condensed ray. The strength of the sun’s heat becomes so great that it burn through paper whereas the normal rays of the sun have no effect on the paper.

This example is also applicable to waves of thought or attention. As the waves of the attention of our thoughts gather together and become focused, to that


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extent their power keeps increasing.

Some examples or analogies are given here to clearly explain the mind power

1. SPELL OF THE EVIL EYE

This point is generally accepted that one can be affected by the ‘spell of the evil eye’ which results from intense ‘intense jealousy’ or negative thoughts. The power that manifests from such one pointed focusing and meditation is called the ‘spell of the evil eye’ or a ‘curse’. If it is literally possible to accept the existence of the miracles of mental power which arise from negative thoughts, then it follows that the, wonders, blessings, miraculous occult powers that arise from the converging divine thoughts too, can be easily understood. All these are but the result of the wonders of the one-pointedness of the mind or the sharpness of the thoughts.

2. Swami Vivekananda has very clearly explained this power of the mind in one of his lectures in America.

While studying in a college, he took along with him some of his colleagues to visit a Brahmin in Southern India. They had heard that he performs many wondrous miracles and they asked him to demonstrate one such miracle. The Brahmin told them to mentally think of a fruit that they love and without showing others, write its name on a piece of paper and put the paper in their own pocket. He then told them to close their eyes and sit and he too sat down in meditation. After some time they were told to open their eyes and the students were surprised to see before them, heaps of different types of fruits. The Brahmin told them to eat the fruit of their choice but the students were hesitant to eat these ‘fruits of magic’. The Brahmin himself started eating a fruit and assured them that these were natural fresh fruits and could cause no harm. When the students tasted the fruits they realised that the fruits had a natural smell, taste and essence. They were even more surprised to see that the fruits together with leaves and branches, were not only fresh and out of season but also included those that were not local. The Brahmin explained to them that this was not caused by some religious or divine miracle but purely the result of mental one-pointedness (or focusing of the mind). The method of focusing the mind was thought to him by one wandering sadhu. He himself is a house-holder. He is not a sadhu, sant or bhagat.
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The absence of a discerning or discriminating mind is the reason why we are unable to understand the hidden secrets of these mind boggling miracles, and go on connecting some unusual, spectacular, unnatural miracles with the colouring of religious or spiritual overtones. In this way such wonders or miracles for us, have become a measure or test for religious or spiritual accomplishment. The more someone exhibits such wonders, the more we get religiously enchanted and accept him to be a super-soul, a bhagat; and for our own personal needs we begin to worship him.

In reality these wondrous deeds or miracles are purely sourced from the concentration of the thoughts and the manifestation of the mental power.

The entire creation came into being through the ‘Word’ of God and operates from the Divine ‘life current’ source. When we use the power of concentration for our own personal use, we are putting an obstacle in the flow of nature’s Divine Life Current. This is ‘against nature’, it is harmful and totally against the ‘Will of God’.

In other words, in our ignorance about these miracles or occult powers-

1. We have bestowed the colour of religiousness upon them.
2. We have elevated them to the level of spirituality.
3. We have made it the false ‘acid-test’ for religion and spirituality.
4. We are using them for our own worldly or religious purpose.
5. We have made it the means of advertising our importance and greatness.
6. We have come to regard them as the end or the aim of religious or spiritual desires.
7. It has become the ‘food’ with which we nuture our egotism.
8. It has become a special way to make and increase the number of disciples.
9. It has become a simple yet effective means of projecting our showmanship and greatness.

Remember this very carefully, in the three phased worldliness all these wondrous deeds, showmanship, occult powers, miracles are but dramatisations and the falsehood of egotism. All these place a big obstacle on the path of godliness and spiritual desires.



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This is how Gurbani has portrayed this level of ours.

1 Without the Name, all food and clothes are worthless; cursed is such spirituality, and cursed are such miraculous powers. That alone is spirituality, and that alone is miraculous power, which the Carefree Lord spontaneously bestows. O Nanak, the Lord’s Name abides in the mind of the Gurmukh; this is spirituality, and this is miraculous power. 650M3

2 Riches and the supernatural spiritual powers of the Siddhas are all emotional attachments; through them, the Naam, the Name of the Lord, does not come to dwell in the mind. 993M3

In history many outstanding practitioners of occult powers and miracles have come and gone - like ‘Gorakh Naath’, Noor Shah, Vali Kandhari, Meea(n) Mitha, Bhangar Naath etc.

In this mental power grouping, many mentally induced happenings are quite commonplace -as for example-

occult powers
stagy entertainment
tantric spell
miracles
words becoming true
foretell the future
knowing what’s in the heart or mind
black magic
jugglery

5. THE MIRACLES OF SPIRITUAL POWER

In the earlier part of this article, the wondrous deeds or miracles that manifest through the powers of the three phased worldliness have already been discussed.

It is important to reemphasis here that in the Divine ‘Play’ there are two different planes.

1. The three phased plane of worldliness (tri gun maya)
2. The Spiritual plane: in which the play of Divine ‘Will’ or Command operates.
Now let us discuss the wonders or miracles of the Spiritual Plane which continue to spontaneously manifest through spiritual disciples, bhagats, super-evolved souls and gurmukhs.
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When the spiritual seekers, go within, and through simran dive into the ‘depth’ of their heart, then their ‘consciousness’ gets touched by the word of ‘divine illumination and like the electric current, the jingling of the ‘electric current’ of the word gets started. This leads to the experiencing of being intertwined / interconnected and the feeling of being in God’s presence. In this way, man’s pure self, riding on the swing of ‘Naam’, filled with the wonder of the unutterable relish of some unfathomable love, attachment, ecstasy and hue cries out in the joy and bliss of the Divine Presence:-

10.1 Listen O people, I have experienced the bliss of Love. 370

10.2 Night and day, remaining attached to the Love of the Lord, the celestial music of the Shabad resounds. 360M1

10.3 Excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent, excellent is Your Name. False,
false, false, false is pride in the world. 1138M5

10.4 Behold, a wondrous miracle has happened! That Lord and Master, whose wisdom is said to be unfathomable, has been enshrined within my heart, by the Guru. 612M5

When our consciousness touches the fountain of Divine Power,
then like an electric current, our inside gets filled with the limitless power of Godliness. In this way the Gurumukhs or Guru orientated beings get soaked with Divine Power and through their evolved awareness or intuition they can feel that, in every particle of the creation, the Divine ‘Life-Current’ gets interwoven and intertwined and operates in the ‘flow’ of the Divine ‘Command’. In this, ‘man’ is only a very tiny ‘part’ of the ‘channel’ of God’s Command.

In the illumination of the Intuitional Divine Knowledge the ‘fortress of doubt’ of a seeker gets shattered and he comes to know in his innate self that his self has no ‘individuality’ whatsoever.

10.5 I an a non entity, only He (God ) is. (369)

10.6 Unto whom should we speak, O Nanak, when He Himself is all-in-all? 475M2
10.6 I am nothing. I have nothing and nothing is mine.858Bh.Sadana

10.7 I am nothing. Everything is yours O Lord. 827M5

The blessed evolved souls, guru-orientated beloveds, have come believe that they are but the ‘carcass of bone-flesh -veins’ in which God according to his Will,
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is operating. In this vast ‘Will’ (of God) we are but just one ‘puppet’.

1 Kabeer, I have not done anything; I shall not do anything; my body cannot do anything. I do not know what the Lord has done, but the call has gone out: “Kabeer, Kabeer.” 1367Bh.Kabeer

2 What can the poor wooden puppet do? The Master Puppeteer knows everything. 206M5

The guru-orientated slave blessed with Infinite Divine Power uses it according to God’s Will and is reluctant to use it according to the dictates of his own mind.

3 I cannot do anything by my own actions. Whatever the Lord does, that alone happens.” 1165Bh.Namdev

In the three phased plane of worldliness, man acquires mental powers with great effort and lays ownership claims to that power which he thinks comes through his own effort.

On the other hand in the spiritual plane the gurmukh (guru-orientated slave), considers the godly spiritual power to be a ‘Divine -Gift’ and endeavours to live in line with the ‘Will’ of God.

Just as every particle in the creation, in a variety of hues, forms and ways, takes part in the manifestation of the infinite and wondrous divine happening and miracles;

In the same way, the gurmukh (guru-orientated slave) too, filled with wondrous spiritual happenings and miracles, is playing his part in nature according to the Divine ‘Will”.

In these situations, the difference behind the manifestation of the Divine ‘Will’ is faith.

8,400,000 forms of life are innocently and unknowingly playing their role in the creation’s divine events.

The ordinary man participates (in the creation) to project his ‘me-mineness’. But the gurmukh -guru orientated person- in total awareness, becomes a ‘slave’ and with divine ‘faith’ uses himself as the tool of the Infinite Lord to project the spiritual, wondrous miracles.

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The manifestation of these two powers can be illustrated as follows:-

Mental Power Spiritual Power
1. Is acquired through effort & toil. It is a Divine gift.
2. It is limited It is unfathomable & limitless.
3. It is for personal gain. It is for the good of others
4. It panders to ‘egotism’. It erases egotism
5. It is the play ground for, me-mineness It is the play of ‘you-yours’.
6. Ones own will comes into play. Divine Will comes into play.
7. It traps one into it. It frees the one who is trapped.
8. It is an obstacle in the divine path. It complements the realisation of spiritual desires.
9. It’s a foreign taste & is accursed It is divine hue & essence.
10. It obstructs the Will of God It cultivated the Will of God.
11. It is being out of tune with God’s Will It is being in harmony with Gods Will.
12. It is the property of the person who The person inevitably becomes
acquires it the slave of this power.
13 It is a deed that is hollow & This is a fountain fondness,
unfulfiling love, adoration, ecstasy & joy.
14 It is the cause of jealousy, duality, “I am at one with everybody”
enmity & confrontation.
15 It leads to fulfilment in It leads to ‘only You alone are’
‘worldly desires’.
16 By itself it has no ‘form’. It is
only the reflection of the
Divine Power.
It is the unfathomable,
supernatural celestial melody, thunderous Divine Power

It is only a rare gurmukh guru-orientated soul, who realises, discovers and enjoys this contradictory game of love through intuition.

We have become so enchanted and ‘bewitched’ about these supernatural happenings and miracles that these mental ‘miracles’ have captured our full attention. The power of these miracles has for us become the ‘measure’ or ‘test’ for religiousness through which

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we estimate the worth of some saint, sant, fakir, demigods, gurmukhs or gurus. When we estimate the worth of the Guru through these self created measure of these miracles, we tend to limit the boundless praise of the Gurus to the limits of our intellect. When we measure the Gurus with our self-centred intellect and the defiled and ‘hazy test’, in our ignorance, instead of praising and honouring our Gurus unknowingly we become disrespectful. On days celebrating the Guru’s birthdays, we tend to mention some dates, the hereditary tree, and relate some often mentioned miracles because we are ignorant of the real divine, limitless attributes of the Gurus. These extraordinary happenings of the worldly plane are but the manifestation of some tiny external episodes.
About the praise-worthiness of the abundant, divine virtues of the spiritual lives of the gurus, we

do are unaware.
do not understand.
have no knowledge.
have no intuition.
have no sublime heart to experience.
no ‘vessel’ to receive the ‘gift’.

The True Guru himself

is the embodiment of ‘astonishment’.
is the embodiment of ‘wonderment’.
is the bliss and joy.
is ‘the being of love’.
is ‘wondrous’.

And like the rays of the sun, the Divine Rays of the Guru’s, ‘divine radiance, blessings, benevolence, keep manifesting every moment, every second, throughout the ages, constantly, through the Guru’s grace.

Through the
astonishing ‘miracle’
wondrous ‘event’
ever novel ‘play’
divine ‘word’
‘word of love’
‘rays of Naam’
joy of ‘wondrousness’

of these invisible, innate ‘Divine Rays’,
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‘Divine life’
‘cupful of love’
‘Food of immortality’
‘Gift of the Naam’
‘Taste of ecstasy’

are made available to the souls of numerous disciples and seekers.

Yes! Through Divine ‘Miracle’ the following changes should come into our lives.

From animal / demon to being human
from humans to angels
from angels to possessors of Divine Knowledge
from mind orientated to Guru orientated
from serving the self to serving others
from the realm of materialism to the world of spirituality
from the knowledge of the to knowledge of the Creator
intellect
from worldly doubts to intuitional divine realisation
from fiery ocean of sorrow to ‘spiritual calmness’
from fear to fearlessness
from death to immortality
from falsehood to truth
from me-mineness to you-yours
from egotism to humility
from being dried up to being evergreen
from pain and torment to everlasting euphoria
from worry and anxiety to eternal joy
from being self centred to others before self
from false stimulants to the supreme intoxicant
from hatred to love
from evil to good

Actually being able to turn away from the external world of materialism and replace it with the innate divine life, is the greatest, truthfilled-eternal Divine miracle, is astonishing, is magic.

1 He made angels out of men, without delay. 462M1

2 That alone is spirituality, and that alone is miraculous power, which the Carefree Lord spontaneously bestows. O Nanak, the Lord’s Name abides in the mind of the Gurmukh; this is spirituality, and this is miraculous power. 650M3
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If the changes stated above do not take place in the realm of our worldly life, then all the external occult powers, miracles, dramas, magic -charms,(that you see around you) are fruitless, without any roots, harmful and doubt ridden fallacies. We are entangled and caught up in the momentary false wondrous feats, and ‘the relish of occult powers that are foreign’.

Without the Name, all food and clothes are worthless; cursed is such spirituality, and cursed are such miraculous powers. 650M3

Nature’s,
Creation through the Word,
Creation’s set-up,
Variety in the set-up,
Colour in the variety
Tenderness in the colour,
Beauty in the tenderness,
Attraction in the beauty,
Intoxication in the attraction,
Bliss in the intoxication,
Joy in bliss,
Bloom in joy,
Astonishment in bloom,
Wonder in astonishment.
And through this wonder,

the ‘gentle falling of the rain’ of amrit’
the ‘thunder’ of the Word
the ‘celestial music’ of the Naam
the ecstasy of the ‘goblet of love’,
the equipoise of ecstasy,
the ‘Grace of the Guru’,

etc. and the phenomenon of numerous divine gifts are the symbols of spiritual blessing or godly ‘miracles.

In the same way in the creation that is visible-
the break of dawn,
the movement of the sun,
the redness of the sun
the setting of the sun,
the darkness of the night,
in the swishing of the air
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in the flow of the water,
in the singing of the birds,
in the ‘crying’ of the child,
in the laughter of joy,
in the manifestation of laughter,
in the ‘flow’ of life,
in the youth of the flow,
in the ecstasy of youth,
in the intoxication of ecstasy,

in the ‘look’ of the eye,
in the ‘glance’ of the look,
in the beauty of nature,
in the tenderness of beauty
in the delicateness of the tenderness,
in the unfolding of the delicateness,
in the magic of the unfolding,
in the colour of the flower,
in the bloom of the flower,
in the tenderness of the flower,
in the sweet scent of the flower,

etc. and numerous other nature’s phenomenon too are the reflection and the manifestation of the Divine Miracle.

16.1 The Lord Himself is absolute; He is The One and Only; but He Himself is also manifested in many forms. Whatever pleases Him, O Nanak, that alone is good. 726M1

16.2 He Himself is the Enjoyer, and He Himself is the Enjoyment. He Himself is the Relisher of all. He Himself is the Bride in her dress, He Himself is the Bridegroom and the bed. 1
My Lord and Master is imbued with love; He is totally permeating and pervading all. 1 Pause He Himself is the fisherman and the fish; He Himself is the water and the net. He Himself is the sinker, and He Himself is the bait. 2 He Himself loves in so many ways. O sister soul-brides, He is my Beloved. He continually ravishes and enjoys the happy soul-brides; just look at the plight I am in without Him! 3 Prays Nanak, please hear my prayer: You are the pool, and You are the soul-swan. You are the lotus flower of the day and You are the water-lily of the night. You Yourself behold them, and blossom forth in bliss. 23M1
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