LEKH NUMBER-80 SANGAT PART-3

LEKH NUMBER-80 SANGAT PART-3




The Timeless Being has created this ‘universe’ or the ‘grand drama’ through His ‘Word’ or ‘Command’ and joyfully delights in seeing it Himself.

1 The Commander, by His Command, leads us to walk on the Path.
O Nanak, He blossoms forth, Carefree and Untroubled. 2

2 As He commands, so they exist.
He watches over all, and contemplating the creation, He rejoices. 8

3 You watch over Your Creation, and through Your All-powerful Creative Potency, You cast the dice. 71

4 The Lord Master beholds His work, and contemplates His creative potency. 580

5 The Beloved Himself beholds, and rejoices; God Himself works wonders, and beholds them. 605

6 The One who created, and attached the mortals to pleasures, sits alone, and watches this. 722

7 You gaze in delight upon the one arena of the world, and enjoy all the pleasures. 1081

Children make dolls and clothes to play with them with joy and delight and then they themselves destroy them. This ‘play’ of the children is symbolic of the creation of the Divine ‘grand drama’.

8 You Yourself created the entire universe, and having fashioned it, You Yourself shall destroy it all. 11

9 Dhadha: He Himself establishes and disestablishes; as it pleases His Will, so does He act. 433

L80-1
1 He destroys, and having destroyed, He creates; by His Order, He adorns us. 579

2 You are all-powerful, to form and break; You create and destroy all. 1102

The only difference is that the dolls-dresses made by children are ‘lifeless’ – but the Timeless Being putting His ‘Light’ in this created ‘beings’ has threaded them in the ‘fibre or yarn of His ‘life-current’ or ‘Naam’.

3 the whole creation is strung on Your thread. 268

4 The Naam is the Support of all creatures.
The Naam is the Support of the earth and solar systems......
The Naam is the Support of the Akaashic ethers and the nether regions.
The Naam is the Support of all bodies.
The Naam is the Support of all worlds and realms. 284

5 Upon Your thread, You have strung the whole world. 292

6 He Himself is the thread, and He Himself is the many beads; through His Almighty Power, He has strung the worlds. 605

All the ‘beings’ are threaded in this love-cord’ of ‘life-current’ or ‘Naam’ and through this ‘love-cord’ they

are connected
have interaction
maintain communication
keep company

with one another and with the Timeless Being.

It is through this ‘string of Naam’ or spiritual ‘yarn’ that there is this

pull of love
cord of affection
yearning for affection

among the beings themselves and with the Timeless Being which results in spiritual

partnerships
transactions
interactions
benefits.

1 God is everything, God is everything. Without God, there is nothing at all.
As one thread holds hundreds and thousands of beads, He is woven into His creation. 485

2 He has strung all on only one thread; He has infused His Light in them. 518

3 He Himself is the thread, and He Himself is the many beads; through His Almighty Power, He has strung the worlds. 605

Through the

consciousness
attention
memory
meditation
belief
faith filled desire
love of one’s inner being

and with the ‘life-current’ or ‘Naam’ man’s spiritual –

connection
interaction
partnership
company
transactions

sprout
grow
flourish
become ingrained
In other words

the feeling
the belief
faith-filled desire
innate love of the self
awareness

in our mind about the existence of the Timeless being or ‘Naam’ can only be possible through our ‘consciousness’ or ‘attention’.

Even in the 8.4 million life-forms, the ‘life-current’ or ‘Naam’ is ‘fully pervading and permeating’, but the ability of their consciousness to feel is ‘crude’ and ‘low’ and for this reason it is not possible for them to feel and believe the ‘life-current’ pervading and permeating in their innermost consciousness.

In comparison with the 8.4 million life-forms, man’s consciousness or the
power to feel is very subtle and sharp as a result of which his ‘consciousness’ can experience the delicate divine desires and enjoy their spiritual relish and ‘innate self-love’.

When the power of feeling or ‘consciousness’ in us becomes crude or low, then we become like ‘animals’ and like animals we become subordinate to our subconsciousness and low thoughts and unknowingly we indulge in low, base acts.

1 Those who do not listen to the Praises of the Lord of supreme bliss,
are worse off than beasts, birds or creeping creatures. 188

2 Forsaking the jewel, they are engrossed with a shell.
They renounce Truth and embrace falsehood.
That which passes away, they believe to be permanent.
That which is immanent, they believe to be far off.
They struggle for what they must eventually leave.
They turn away from the Lord, their Help and Support, who is always with them.
They wash off the sandalwood paste;
like donkeys, they are in love with the mud. 267

1 The manmukh is blind; he does not like the Guru's Teachings.
He has become a beast; he cannot get rid of his egotistical pride. 1190

2 The faithless cynic does not submit to the True Guru; the Lord makes the non-believer wander in confusion.
The waves of greed are like packs of dogs. The poison of Maya sticks to the body-skeleton. 1312

Many a time under the influence of our base desires, we indulge in acts which are even lower than those of animals and suffer the consequences.

3 Like the mad dog running around in all directions,
the greedy person, unaware, consumes everything, edible and non-edible alike. 50

4 Attached to duality, the foolish, blind and stupid people waste away and die.
Like worms, they live in manure, and in it, they die over and over again. 85

5 The false are called pigs and dogs.
They bark themselves to death; they bark and bark and howl in fear.
False in mind and body, they practice falsehood; through their evil-mindedness, they lose out in the Court of the Lord. 1029

6 Cursed is the food, and cursed are the clothes, of those who are attached to the love of duality.
They are like maggots in manure, sinking into manure. In death and rebirth, they are wasted away to ruin. 1347

7 O Nanak, they are donkeys; they are very proud of themselves, but they have no virtues at all. 1246

In this way we ‘forget’ the Timeless Being and the feeling or belief of ‘life-current’ of ‘Naam’ evaporates or becomes ‘superficial’ as a result of which man’s ‘conscious-connection’ with the divine realm breaks and our

partnership
company
interaction

with the life- current of ‘Naam’ cannot take place

and we become deprived of our Divine inheritance.

Coming out of the ‘love-cord’ of Divine realm, ‘man’ becomes separated from the other beads of the spiritual ‘rosary’ meaning he is separated from the ‘consciousness’ of the guru-orientated beloveds and therefore no

interaction
sharing
company
transactions
dealings

are possible with their dynamic Divine ‘personality’ in the innermost consciousness’.

Thus through ‘forgetting’ and breaking away from the spiritual ‘source’ or ‘Naam’ and ‘sangat’ (company) – he regards himself as a separate entity in the materialistic realm – as a result of which he feels the loneliness (a sense of unconnectedness).

1 Those who lack the Company of the Holy, remain all alone. 135

2 The soul-bride who is without her beloved Husband is all alone. 244

3 O Nanak, those who do not think of the Guru, and who think of themselves as clever,
shall be left abandoned in the field, like the scattered sesame. 463

4 My own evil actions have kept me separate from Him; why should I accuse anyone else? 136

5 The self-willed manmukhs are forever separated from the Lord; no one is with them. 1258

6 The lonely soul-bride suffers in the pit of the world.
She has no companions, and no friends. 794

For example as long as a ‘bead’ is threaded in the rosary, it is a ‘member’ of the ‘family’ of beads of the rosary and it contributes towards the beauty, greatness, value of the rosary as a whole. But one lonely bead separated from the ‘rosary’
does not have any greatness or value; on the contrary, it worries and suffers the self-created ‘loneliness’.

In this way when man is threaded in the ‘love-cord’ of ‘Naam’ he is ‘shareholder’ of all the virtues and greatness of the spiritual realm and is a member of those threaded in ‘Naam’, namely the company of truth-seekers, holy groups. In other words he is a member of ‘Nanak’s family’. Thus through their Divine company he participates in spiritual transactions and benefits (accordingly).

1 Their bodies and minds blossom forth in the Lord; they have the companionship of the Holy Saints. 135

2 Sit in peace, O Saints, with the family of friends.
Earn the wealth of the Lord, which is beyond estimation. 185

3 My dealings are with the Saints, and my business is with the Saints.
I have earned the profit with the Saints, and the treasure filled to over-flowing with devotion to the Lord. 614

4 I am unworthy; no one gives me sanctuary. But in the Society of the Saints, I merge in God.
Says Nanak, the Guru has revealed this miracle; within my mind, I enjoy the Lord, Har, Har. 1018

5 O Nanak, singing the Glorious Praises of the Lord, the true profit is obtained; in the Sat Sangat, the True Congregation, the fruit of Truth is obtained. 1040

6 As the diamond interlaced with other diamonds goes in the company of jewels, likewise the mind-diamond intertwined with the diamond like Guru Word goes in the string of the holy congregation. VBG 6/9

7 These, all fellow disciples of the Guru, are like the jewels of a string.VBG11/27

8 The Sikhs of the Guru are pearls who are strung in the garland in the form of
congregation. VBG15/16

Dangerous criminals are imprisoned in solitary cells. The ‘loneliness’ (in the solitary cell) is very painful and unbearable.

In the same manner when ‘man’ – breaks away from ‘Naam’ and enters the materialistic realm, then the chronic disease of ‘egotism’ or the ‘doubt-fallacy’ of ‘duality’ embraces him and he becomes imprisoned in the ‘solitary cell’ of ‘me-mineness’ and all his life, he burns in the ‘fiery guilt ocean’ of anxiety, worry-fear-dread.
1 Those who are separated from the Lord do not dwell in peace, O sister. 136

2 Without the Guru, they wander around crying out in misery; in the love of duality, they are ruined. 513

3 One who forgets the Creator Lord, suffers sorrow and separation. 760

4 Separated from the Lord, how can any living being live?.........
Those who forget my Beloved Lord are dead and dying. 1269

One who is immersed in attachment – materialism does not like lofty-pure ‘holy company’. If he goes imitatively (following what others do) or attends the traditional ‘sangat’, he does not get any benefit due to his lack of faith-filled-desire.

5 Those who have hearts as hard as stone, do not sit near the True Guru.
Truth prevails there; the false ones do not attune their consciousness to it.
By hook or by crook, they pass their time, and then they go back to sit with the false ones again.
Falsehood does not mix with the Truth; O people, check it out and see.
The false go and mingle with the false, while the truthful Sikhs sit by the side of the True Guru. 314

6 Planting the seeds in the rocky soil, how can one reap a profit?
The self-willed manmukh is not pleased with Truth; the false are buried in falsehood. 419

7 True is the Banker, and True are His traders. The false ones cannot remain there.
They do not love the Truth - they are consumed by their pain. 755

8 The Lord's people are good and sublime; the unfortunate ones do not like them at all.
The more the Lord's exalted servants speak of Him, the more the slanderers attack and sting them. 881

9 He burns in tremendous sexual desire, unresolved anger and desire.
He never joins the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy. 1252

10 Kabeer, the sinner does not like devotion to the Lord; he does not appreciate worship.
The fly abandons the sandalwood tree, and goes after the rotten smell. 1368

11 Whilst listening to the shabad in the sadh-sangat, one does not walk upon the path of the Guru-orientated,
In spite of their white apparels (i.e. their physical presence in the sadhsangat) they obtain no fruits, no benefits VBG17/3
When the ‘remembrance’ of the Timeless One exits man’s consciousness or becomes loose and the ‘belief’ (in God) decreases, then the ‘me-mineness’ of egotism and the ‘second-love prevail and flourish. Through this ‘second love’ and ego-ridden consciousness –

me-mineness
selfishness
jealousy
duality
enmity
opposition
lust
anger
greed
attachment
pride

etc., and all materialistic vices automatically emerge and cling to man with the ‘practice’ of which the ‘fungus of illusion’ and materialistic dirt’ creep on to our mind and we distance ourselves even more from the spiritual realm and become unfaithful.

Because everyone’s materialistic thoughts, understanding, faiths are different, our ‘experiences’ of life are also distinct and the colouring or our subconsciousness too is different.

Due to this
the thinking
the understanding
the thoughts
the beliefs
the interests
the wishes
the hopes
the tastes
the actions
the religions
the rituals etc

of the ego-ridden beings detached from the “Naam’ are varied and there is difference or disparity in every aspect of their lives. Due to this ‘difference’ it is inevitable for men to have

disagreements
debates
quarrels
fights
murders
oppression

among themselves – the proof of which is seen clearly in our –

hearts
homes
families
relations
educational institutions
religious institutions
religions
government departments
communities
countries
In other words as long as the inclination of our mind has a spiritual bent or tendency, on becoming intoxicated in the ‘unstruck melody’ of Naam, we remain beaded in the ‘love-cord’ of the Timeless Being, and being’ in tune’ with the ‘command’ or Divine ‘Will’, we, (while being) in the company of our fellow-associates or seers, saints, beloved gurmukhs, highly evolved beings, partake in the

sharing
interacting
transacting
dealing

of ambrosial food or ‘Naam’, and deriving benefit we enjoy the spiritual bliss.

Contrary to this – coming our of the Divine ‘love-cord’ and forgetting the Timeless being, we become deprived of the true-pure spiritual company of the holy, and becoming ‘self-willed’, we suffer by dying, taking rebirth and experiencing in the ‘grievous ocean of grief’ and the dreadful difficult boundless ocean’ of the materialistic realm.

1 He does not join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, and he suffers in terrible pain through countless incarnations. 77

2 One who does not obtain the Association of the True Guru, is a most unfortunate sinner; he is consumed by the Messenger of Death. 494

3 The body is tied up with emotional attachment, disease and sorrow, and so it is lured into countless reincarnations.
He finds no place of rest without the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; to whom should he go and cry? 532

4 He does not enjoy celestial peace in the Company of the Holy, and there is not even a bit of sweetness on his tongue.
He calls his mind, body and wealth his own; he has no knowledge of the Court of the Lord.
Closing his eyes, he walks in darkness; he cannot see the home of his own being, O Siblings of Destiny.
Tied up at Death's door, he finds no place of rest; he receives the rewards of his own actions. 596

world
1 Without the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, one dies wandering around in confusion, performing all sorts of rituals.
O Nanak, all are bound by the attractive bonds of Maya, and the karmic record of past actions. 928

2 The self-willed manmukh comes, and the self-willed manmukh goes.
The manmukh suffers beatings again and again.
The manmukh endures as many hells as there are; the Gurmukh is not even touched by them. 1073

Because of the Divine ‘light’ in the innermost consciousness of man, there exists unknowingly the hidden ‘pull’ of love-affection-fondness’ in the depths of his ‘consciousness’ or subconsciousness. For this reason even in the materialistic realm, men experience materialistic pull among themselves and social interaction takes place. This (state) is referred to as ‘attachment’. This ‘attachment’ exists among all the creatures of the universe. It is for this reason that animals, birds etc. live in ‘groups’ or ‘flocks’ and men live together as families in villages, towns in the form of a society.

3 I am a sacrifice to the One who has made emotional attachment sweet. 918

4 Emotional attachment to Maya wells up throughout the whole world, 1052

5 In this world, emotional attachment is spread all over. 1067

6 You entice and fascinate even the heavenly heralds, celestial singers, gods, mortals, beasts and birds. 1358

There is the pull of the ‘live-affection-fondness’ and ‘love- cord’ of the eternal Lord. this pull of love is comfort-giving, blissful and ecstatic.

Those Guru orientated beloveds participate in the ‘love-play’ of Divine affection have been respectfully given names such as ‘guru-‘ orientated’, ‘holy men’, ‘saints’, ‘devotees’, ‘ascetics’ etc. and

keeping company
interacting
sharing
transacting
having dealings

with these great souls is referred to in Gurbani as
‘sadhsangat’ or ‘satsangat’, (the company of the holy)

1 Come, dear friends, Saints and companions:
let us join together and sing the Glorious Praises of the Inaccessible and Infinite Lord. 104

2 Associate with the Saints, speak with the Saints, and keep your mind awake to the Kirtan of the Lord's Praises. 674

3 Join the Sat Sangat, the Lord's True Congregation; joining the Company of the Holy, sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. 368

4 I serve, serve, serve, serve the Holy Saints; forever and ever, I do this.
The Primal Lord, the Great Giver, has blessed me with the gift of fearlessness. Joining the Company of the Holy, I sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. 820

5 O Lord, my mind longs to meet with the humble servants of the Lord.
The sweet, subtle essence of the Lord is immortalizing ambrosia. Meeting the Saints, I drink it in. 881

6 The Lord's humble servant saves those who accompany him.
Their minds are sanctified and rendered pure, and they are rid of the pains of countless incarnations. 1207

7 Seated in the Society of the Saints, I chant the Lord's Praises. 1361

Contrary to this, gathering or interaction of men who have broken away from ‘Naam’s’ love of innate self or have turned away from the Timeless Being cannot be called a ‘sadhsangat’ or ‘satsangat’ because in such gatherings or interactions there is no reflection of spiritual ‘love of one’s innate self’ and there is an absence of the ‘touchstone-power’ of ‘Naam’.

One guru-orientated scholar has correctly written that in the absence of divine love of one’s innate self, to regard the gathering of those not imbued (in the Naam) as ‘sadhsangat’ or ‘satsangat’ is improper and a fallacy.

Such a gathering of un-imbued,self-willed men without ‘Naam’, immersed in materialism is reffered to in Gurbani as follows:-

8 Friendship with the self-willed manmukhs is an alliance with Maya......
The false bond does not last; it is like stones joined with mud. 954

1 Do not trust greedy people, if you can avoid doing so.
At the very last moment, they will deceive you there, where no one will be able to lend a helping hand.
Whoever associates with the self-willed manmukhs, will have his face blackened and dirtied. 1417

2 You are the constant help and support of the Saints, who behold You Ever-present.
Those who lack the Naam, the Name of the Lord, shall die, engulfed in sorrow and pain. 397

3 Kabeer, I have been ruined and destroyed by bad company, like the banana plant near the thorn bush.
The thorn bush waves in the wind, and pierces the banana plant; see this, and do not associate with the faithless cynics. 1369

4 The crow rubs and washes itself in the mud puddle.
Its mind and body are polluted with its own mistakes and demerits, and its beak is filled with dirt.
The swan in the pool associated with the crow, not knowing that it was evil.
Such is the love of the faithless cynic; understand this, O spiritually wise ones, through love and devotion. 1411

As an illustration, from the group of ‘dead bodies’, only stench which is offensive for the living, spreads.

Without ‘Naam’ and the love one’s innate self, the consciousness of men become very impure and low as a result which the ‘stench’ of materialistic odour sprouts from their interaction and dealings. This has very bad and deadly effect in their friends and companions, just like the ‘stench from corpses’ so much so that even in their ‘attachment-love’ there is some degree of ‘me-mineness’. Such worldly love or ‘attachment’ does get ‘heated’ and becomes the cause of suffering. For this reason materialistic love or ‘attachment’ is explained in Gurbani as follows:-

5 In this world, I have seen love to be false.
Whether they are spouses or friends, all are concerned only with their own happiness.
All say, "Mine, mine", and attach their consciousness to you with love. 536

6 The love of Maya is totally painful; this is a bad deal. 570

7 Attachment to Maya is totally false, and false are those who go that way.
Through egotism, the world is caught in conflict and strife, and it dies. 790

1 Those who have forgotten the Naam, the Name of the Lord - I have seen them reduced to dust.
The love of children and friends, and the pleasures of married life are torn apart.1006

2 Love and attachment to children and spouse is total misery and pain. 1238

Those who have forgotten the Timeless being and have become apostates are said to ‘dead’ in Gurbani.

3 Those who have forgotten the True One are miserable-they depart weeping and wailing.
Those who have not served the True Guru-why did they even bother to come into the world? 88

4 They alone are truly alive, whose minds are filled with the Lord.
O Nanak, no one else is truly alive; 142

5 Their bodies are corpses, without the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy.
190

6 He is looked upon as a corpse, O Nanak, if he does not love the Lord God.253

7 Useless is the body of the spiritually blind, without the Name of the Lord.269

8 One who forgets the Lord is dead. 407

From this it is clear that men who are detached from Naam or the divine ‘love of one’s innate self’ are, from the spiritual point of view, ‘dead’ and therefore it is natural for the ‘stench of the dead’ to emanate or emit from their gatherings or companionship.

In the entire world –

suspicions
envy
hatred
jealousy
duality
enmity
opposition
arguments
fights
revenge
which are seen to be prevailing and flourishing are the reflection or manifestation of the stench of human ‘lifelessness’.

These ‘faithless’, ‘lifeless’ men who are detached form ‘Naam’ are themselves burning with anger or jealousy in the ‘fiery-grief-ocean’ of attachment-materialism and when they associate or interact with others, they pass on the spark or ember of fire of their attachment-materialism. In this way, the flames of the materialistic ‘fiery-grief-ocean’, increase in the ‘gathering’ of such people.

1 One who does not obey the Hukam, the Command of the Perfect Guru - that self-willed manmukh is plundered by his ignorance and poisoned by Maya.
Within him is falsehood, and he sees everyone else as false; the Lord has tied these useless conflicts around his neck.
He babbles on and on, but the words he speaks please no one.
He wanders from house to house like an abandoned woman; whoever associates with him is stained by the mark of evil as well. 303

2 The self-willed manmukhs are engrossed in emotional attachment to Maya; in the love of duality, their minds are unsteady.
Night and day, they are burning; day and night, they are totally ruined by their egotism.
Within them, is the total pitch darkness of greed, and no one even approaches them. 652

3 The self-willed manmukhs are deaf and blind; they are filled with the fire of desire. 1415

In actual fact:-
religious places
places of worship
seminaries
monasteries
prayers places
hermitages

etc. should be centres of divine virtues such as

purity
love of the inner Self
friendliness
calmness

mental coolness
spiritual life direction
divine praise
devotion
meditation.

But it is very sad and unfortunate that such pure spiritual centres have also been set on ‘fire’ with their own internal ‘fire’ by the so-called religious people who are detached from ‘Naam’ and even there:-

jealousy
duality
fanaticism
greed
anger
ego
fear
dread
impatience
apostasy

are prevailing and flourishing. The manifestation of this is clearly seen and heard everyday.

In our ignorance and apostasy while indulging in:-

low base desires
low thoughts
party politics
jealousy duality
enmity-opposition
self interest
desire for ‘posts’
hunger of leadership
expression of egotism,

we have made ‘religious places’:-

bases of duality
arena of egotism
sphere of anger
means of achieving self interest
means of obtaining materialistic benefit
arena of gossip
centre of slandering and back-biting
centre of partisan politics
centre for contentious issues
centre for seeking revenge.

It is regrettable that in the holy presence of Sri Guru Granth sahib Ji whom we regard as our spiritual head and ‘Guru’, we, in the ‘name of religion’ and contrary to the teachings of Gurbani, openly express our

jealousy-duality
enmity-opposition
greed
self interest
anger
egotism

and showing disrespect to ‘Guru Granth Sahib Ji’ we ourselves are (instrumental in) presenting and subjecting our religion to to a public display of grievance

Thus we carry our mental grievance or the ‘ember of fire’ to our religious places with us and spread the spark to one another. As a result in the holy religious places too
wave of greed
you-you, me-me
challenging shouts of egotism
partisan politics
contentious tension
taunts and gibes
arguments
fights
murders
taking revenge

etc. disdainful, horrible and distressing misdeeds continue to take place.

Bhai Sahib Bhai Gurdas Ji has described our religious grievances as follows:-

1.1 A fire outside a river can be doused with the water from the river; but if a boat in a river catches fire how can that fire be put off.

1.2 In the event of a attack from the outside one can run and take shelter in a fort; but if one is attacked and robbed in the fort itself then tell (me) where does one go for safety.

1.3 From for fear of thieves and robbers one can take refuge with a king; but if the king inflicts punishment then where does one go

1.4 (In the same way) in the fear of the web of materialism one can take shelter in the court of the Guru; but if even there materialism rears its ugly head, then where does one take shelter. BG Kebet 544

It is regrettable that the expression of religious grievance is carried out under the ‘cover’ of ‘satsangat’ or ‘sadhsangat’, the company of the holy. Linking the name of ‘satsangat’ or ‘sadhsangat’, the company of the holy, to this expression of religious grievance with is a serious error of our ignorance.

In the serious doubt-fallacy or illusion of external religion we, become

indifferent
careless
unaware
ignorant
complacent

and becoming (so-called) virtuous we remain deprived of the ‘love-play’ of the innate divine ‘path’ of the ‘satsangat’ or ‘sadhsangat’, the company of the holy which –

is true and pure
possesses divine ‘hue or colour’
possesses spiritual ‘relish’
possesses
possesses ‘silent love’
possesses the ‘cord of love’
possesses emotions of love
possesses ‘love of the innate Self’
possesses celestial music
possesses unstruck melody
possesses spiritual ‘life’
is alive and aware
possesses a ‘touch’ of spirituality
possesses a spiritual ‘pull’
possesses ‘Naam’.

This is not all; our so-called religious preachers and contractors of religion are keeping the simple prospective truth-seekers trapped in hollow, externally- orientated rituals.

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.
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. 642

Practicing restraint by Hatha Yoga, the body wears away.
The mind is not softened by fasting or austerities. 905

This is clearly totally ‘bad or negative company’. To refer to it as ‘satsangat’ is being disrespectful to the words ‘sadhsangat’, the company of the holy.

To –

bestow or add colour or hue
sculpture or mould
fashion
transform or change
make or create

our entire life or personality, there is indeed one and only one method or way and that is
SANGAT, company

In other words, it is the ‘sangat’ that is capable of fashioning and transforming our life to make it:-

comfortable or painful
successful or fruitless
good or bad
spiritual or materialistic
soul-bound or bound in materialism
calm or restless
affectionate or hollow
live in high spirits or face a spiritless life
salvation giving or bondage giving
heavenly or hellish
seek the protection of face the mercy
the holy-feet or of Yam, the couriers of death
(filled with) remembrance or (one steeped in) forgetfulness
experience coolness face the fiery ocean of
of Naam or materialism
spiritually knowledgeable or live in doubt-fallacy
pure or impure or dirty
love the Self within or burn in jealousy
‘you only you’ or ‘me – mine’
guru-orientated or self – willed.



1 Kabeer, the mind has become a bird; it soars and flies in the ten directions.
According to the company it keeps, so are the fruits it eats. 1369


2.1 Just as wind at one brings in a shower;
but at another place it blows away the clouds.

2.2 Just as some drink water and the body remains free of disease;
But some upon drinking water get diseased and cry out in pain.

2.3 Just as the fire assists in the cooking of food and vegetables in a house;
But a fire that goes out of control in a house, burns and destroys it completely.

2.4 (In the same way), by being in the company of some emancipation is obtained;
whilst being in the company of some others jam, are lead by the couriers of death (to hell).
BG Kabet 549