ALL MEN MUST DIE

  

-English rendering of a discourse by Revd. Shahi Swami Ji, probably the eldest living direct disciple of Maharshi Mehi Paramhans. Maharshi Mehi would sometimes lovingly remark , “Shahi Ji is my heart”.

 

-Translated by Pravesh K. Singh

(http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/sant_ santati

http://profiles. yahoo.com/ praveshksingh )

 

Dear Satsang-Loving Gentlemen, Mothers & Sisters!

Just now you listened to discourses of various leaned persons and spiritual practitioners in this highly auspicious programme. They threw light on many aspects of the life of, and narrated various miracles associated with, Sadguru Maharaj (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans Ji Maharaj). I will try to put before you some of his preachings. His teachings were aimed at eradicating for good all our sorrows, all our miseries. Goswami Tulsidas ji has said,

“rAkApati shoDas uahin, tArAgaN samudAi |
 sakal girinh dav lAiye, binu ravi rAti na jAi ||
 aisehi binu hari bhajan khageshA |
                             miTahin na jIvanh ker kaleshA ||”
[Let sixteen moons, or the moon with all of its sixteen attributes rise in the sky; let all the stars shine bright |
Set all the woods (or mountains) afire, yet the night wouldn't end unless the sunrise takes place. ||
Likewise, for want of devotion to God |
                   Afflictions of life would never go away ||]

Goswami Tulsidas ji says: what if the full moon in all its glory rises up in the sky, what if all the stars begin to shine and what if all the mountains – mountains, you see, are not a few in number, just look at the Himalayas how vast a chain of mountains it is, then there are numerous other mountains as well in the world – are set on fire, the resulting light wouldn’t be an ordinary light, will it. But, in spite of so much glitter, it would still remain night only. Night would end only when the Sunrise will take place. Similarly, do what you can in the form of all sorts of worldly actions to get rid of all the sorrows, all the troubles; but, believe me, you would not succeed in your efforts unless and until you exercise devotion towards God. Our most adorable Guru Maharaj was of the view that devotion should consist of both the components of bhakti (devotion) namely, `saguN bhakti’ (bhakti towards a god/deity/person/ entity with form and attributes) and `nirguN bhakti’ (bhakti to an impersonal, formless & attribute-less God). Some people say that only bhakti of saguN (that with attributes/qualitie s) and `sAkAr’ (having a form) is sufficient and that the nirguN bhakti is not needed at all. While some others opine that there is no necessity of saguN bhakti, nirguN bhakti alone would do. But our most revered Guru Maharaj would remark, “He who believes or says that bhakti of only saguN & sAkAr would do and that nirguN – nirAkAr ( nirAkAr means that who is formless) is not at all required wants to remain alive after chopping off his head. On the other hand, he who tells that bhakti of saguN – sAkAr is useless, nirguN – nirAkAr alone being sufficient, wishes to walk having his legs amputated.” Thus, both saguN-sAkAr as well as nirguN-nirAkAr are essential. Initially, you see, we have to begin with saguN bhakti. Bhakti of nirguN-nirAkAr comes in the advanced & final stage of bhakti. Sagun means that which is with the three guNas (qualities/ attributes) and sAkAr means that which has got some shape or form. On the contrary, nirguN refers to that which is free of all the three attributes, and nirAkAr implies that which is formless. What is this nirguN – nirAkAr? Everyday we recite in our morning prayers that the God is “nirguN saguN ke pAr mein” (that is, beyond both the nirguN and saguN)”. So, in order to attain to the eternal God both types of bhakti – nirguN as well as saguN – are required. Will the saguN bhakti alone do? It has not worked till date, and will not in future either. King Dasharatha had the good fortune of being the father of Lord Ram. Yet what happened? Lord Ram had to be exiled, and grieving in his separation:
“Ram Ram kahi Ram kahi, Ram Ram kahi Ram |
 Tanu parihari RaghubIr birah, rAu gayeu suradhAm ||”
[ Moaning with chants of Ram, Ram, Ram...King Dasharatha parted with his body in the trauma of separation from Ram, and departed to heaven.]

King Dasharath went to heaven. And how is that heaven? Lord Ram himself has said of heaven,

“bade bhAg mAnush tan pAvA | sur durlabh sab granthahin gAvA ||”
[It is a matter of great fortune to have got a human incarnation. |
This body, sing all the scriptures, is difficult of attainment even to gods.||]

This body is rare for gods. So what wisdom lies in toiling so much here and finally going to heaven? Ram has further stated, “swargau swalp ant dukhadAI ||”
[Even the stay in heaven is short-lived and ends painfully (in cycles of birth & death).]

Pandavas were devotees of a very high order of Lord Shri Krishna. They were such great devotees that Lord Shri Krishna did everything for them, and came to their help in the oddest of situations, some of which could not even be obvious to Pandavas. But what turned out to be their final fate? Read Mahabharata to know. After having vanquished the Kauravas and established their supremacy well, they handed over the reins to Parikshit and set out for heaven while still in their human body, along with their wife Draupadi. They decided to take the Himalayan route. But all of them fell on the way and had instead to go to hell. They had to complete their sentence in the hell before they were sent to heaven. And what is so great in their getting into heaven? Lord Shri Krishna himself has explained the fate of heaven-dwellers: a person can stay in heaven only for so long as he has the balance or surplus of his `puNyas’ (virtuous deeds) still left; on exhaustion of this balance he has to come back to this very world. Sant Tulsi Sahab has said,

“naratan durlabh dev ko, sab koi kahai pukAr ||

sab koi kahai pukAr, dev dehI nahin pAvain |
aise mUrakh log swarg kI As lagAvain ||

puNya chin soi dev swarg se narak mein Awain |
bharamein chAro khani puNya kahi tAhi rijhAvain ||

Tulsi sat mat tat gahe, swarg pe kare khakhAr |
naratan durlabh dev ko, sab koi kahai pukAr ||”

[The human body is rare & difficult-of- attainment even to gods, proclaim all loudly. ||

All proclaim loudly that even gods don't easily get the human cloak. |
But foolish people keep craving for heaven ||

Having exhausted the fruits of their noble deeds (performed in the previous births) gods have to tumble down from heaven to hell |
And have to wander (thereafter) in the four `khAni' s (all living beings can be classified into four groups namely, `pinDaj' or those born of a body (like all mammals), `anDaj' or those born of eggs (birds, tortoises, snakes), `swedaj' or those born of heat/sweat (insects like lice, bugs) and `udbhijj' or those born out of the earth (plant kingdom))||

Tulsi says, he follows the essence of the teachings of sants and treats the heaven with the contempt it deserves. |
The human body is rare & difficult-of- attainment even to gods, proclaim all loudly. ||]

I mean to say that saguN sAkAr alone does not make the bhakti complete. What does it imply then? Is the bhakti to saguN sAkAr not needed? No, it is not so. Rather, bhakti of saguN sAkAr is the initial phase or the beginning of it. If we do not begin, how would we reach the end? If we don’t reach up to the end, how would we realise the ultimate benefit? So, we will have to do saguN bhakti. In Santmat, saguN bhakti consists of the `mAnas jap’ (mentally chanting the mantra given by the Guru repeatedly) and `mAnas dhyAn’ (mentally or internally visualising the form of the desired deity or Guru). These two are followed by `bindu dhyAn’ (meditating upon the infinitesimal radiant point in the inner sky) – this is `sUkshma saguN sAkAr’ (subtle but with attributes and form) form of bhakti. Meditating upon various sounds within (except the Quintessential Unstruck Sound) is a version of `sUkshma saguN nirAkAr’ (subtle and with attributes but formless) bhakti. Meditating upon the Quintessential Word or Sound is worshipping the `nirguN nirAkAr’ (formless as well as attributeless) .These are the four types of worship. Chant the alphabetical mantra internally and still your sight on the desired form internally. Which word should we chant? Which image should we focus upon? There is no mantra that is inferior or superior. Similarly there is no ordinary or great form. All names are His. All forms are His. Therefore, no name is petty or great. Recite only that mantra Guru tells you to. Do not run after several names. If you get trapped in numerous names (mantras), what sort of bhakti your bhakti turns into? Just like that of a lady who keeps relations with a number of men (or vice versa)! What do people call such a lady? She is known as an adulterous lady. Similarly a person who keeps his bhakti distributed or scattered over so many names & forms, bhakti of such a devotee is said to be promiscuous bhakti. Sant Sundardas Ji has said in this regard:

          “jo hari ko taji An upAsat, so matimand fajIhat hoI||

 Jyun apane bhartArahin chhADi, bhai vibhichAriNI kAminI koI|
 Sundar tAhi na Adar mAn, firai bimukhI apanI pat khoI ||”
[He who worships anyone other than the God lands in troubles||

Just as a lady who is not loyal to her husband and falls prey to adultery |
Such a lady, says Sundardas Ji, receives respect from none and keeps loitering hither & thither having lost her husband ||]

They say such a lady who is not loyal to one husband and such a devotee whose bhakti is not centred on one name & form should commit suicide by jumping into a well. What is the essence of all this? Recite one mantra, visualise one form. Don’t be arbitrary, or of free wanton will. Do as sants have advised you.

What is the benefit of chanting? Agitations of mind die down due to chanting. Unless & until this chatter of mind ceases, you won’t be able to withdraw yourself away from the world. Suppose a vehicle is moving, and someone signals a danger ahead. Now what would the driver do? He would press brakes. If he does not, he would not be able to save the vehicle. `Jap’ or chanting is the brake for the mind to check it from drifting towards the world. But stopping only wouldn’t help; you would have to take a turn along an appropriate route. To turn, you would have to do dhyAn (meditation) . Meditate upon whom? You would have to meditate on those who have already turned themselves away from the world. If you meditate upon such people who are themselves engrossed into or attached to the world, you would turn into a wholly mundane or worldly person. Some meditate upon Lord Ram, some upon Lord Shiva. Here we keep this photo of our Guru Maharaj. To this some people comment that we are idol worshippers. They don’t know that it is, in fact, the character that is worshipped. And character is worshipped even by enemies. The battle between Ram and Ravan was raging. Meghnad, the most illustrious son of Ravan, got killed. Meghnad’s wife goes to her father-in-law, Ravan, and implores, “Please send for the head of my husband. I want to become sati (a lady who dies by self-immolation on the pyre of her husband) with him.” This story has been referred to in the Ramayan composed by Balmiki. Ravan told her, “My dear daughter, your husband’s severed head is lying in the camp of Ram. Please go and get that.” Several people who were present there were aghast and exclaimed in unison, “Have you gone out of mind, Sir? You advise Sulochana to go to the camp of Ram whose wife you have yourself hijacked! Will she ever return safely?” Ravan retorts, “I am fully in control of my faculties; it’s you who have gone out of your minds. It is not in the character of Ram to usurp others’ wives, it is neither in the character of the ascetic Lakshman, nor even of the devotees like Hanuman, Angad etc.” So what do I mean to say? Meditating upon the noblest of people would induce nobility within you. As you know, and as is often told by people as well, Guru Maharaj (Maharshi Mehi Paramhans) would often say, “Shahi ji is my heart”. Now I am sitting here, alive in front of you. But believe me you would not get the same benefit by looking at millions of people like me as would be derived by beholding this portrait (of Guru Maharaj)! Where would you get such a sterling character behind the image?

Whoever would honestly live a life of truth would be able to scale higher, I mean, to ascend towards God in that very measure. What do I mean to say? Meditate upon that entity; you would acquire that excellence. So long as you don’t acquire that excellence, how would you be able to see the holiest God? How would you attain to the Supreme Lord? Goswami Tulsidas Ji wrote,

“vimal hridi bhavan krit sAnti parjank subh |
 sayan visrAm Shri ram rAyA ||”

That is, the cot of peace is laid in the room of a pure heart; Lord Shri Ram (God) rests on such a cot. The inside would get purified through meditation. So, meditate. Do subtler meditation i.e., bindu dhyAn following gross meditation (namely, mAnas jap and mAnas dhyAn). What do we get by doing bindu dhyAn? Close your eyes. What do you see? Everybody sees darkness within on closing his eyes. However, he who practises bindu dhyAn rises above this darkness. He sees light within. In fact, this light is very much there within me, within you, within everybody; and it is not that this light descends from somewhere else. Sant Kabir Sahab observes,

“ghaT ghaT dIpak barai, lakhai nahin andh hai |
 lakhat lakhat lakhi parai, kate jam fand hai ||”
[That lamp is alight within every pitcher (body), but the blind can't see it |
Through perseverant practice it comes into sight, shattering the fetters of death. ||]

When that light is visualised, the chains of Death God are cut open. Darkness flees. That light emanates from the God. Visualising that light leads to the end of all sorts of miseries, all afflictions:

“Ram sachchidAnand dineshA | nahin tanh moh nisA lav lesA ||”
                                                                             – Goswami Tulsidas Ji

[Ram is the eternal Sun of consciousness & absolute bliss |
 There is no room there for even the slightest darkness of infatuation or illusion. ||]

The night of infatuation will draw to an end. Ignorance will be banished for ever. Sins would cease to be committed. Anyone who commits sin does so only unknowingly. Would a wise man ever tell lies, steal or take to intoxicants? You are cooking your own food; would you yourself add poison to it? Supposing even if you did so, who would call you wise, for everyone knows the consequences of consuming poison? Acts are of two kinds – noble acts and evil acts. Evil deeds beget unpleasant outcomes inviting miseries. Therefore, if anyone performs evil acts, he does so out of ignorance only. Why then does he commit sin? – Because he is living in darkness:

“man jAne sab bAt, jAn-bUjh avaguN kare”

That is, the mind knows everything and yet acts in an evil manner. But, because we are currently under darkness, and hence the afflictions that keep confronting us. Transcend darkness; see light. For he who has got the divine light and sound, it is as if he has got hold of both the hands of the God. Our most adorable Guru Maharaj would say, “The child who ensconces himself amidst the two arms of his mother becomes free of all fear, for he knows that his mother would take him into her lap. It might just be possible that the child could slip from the hands of her mother, but he who has raised himself between the two hands namely, light & sound, of God can never be separated from Him even if he is sprayed over with bombshells!”

“na pal bichhure piyA hamse, na ham bichhure piyAre se |”
[Not for a moment does my Lord separate from me, nor do I part with my beloved.]

So, practise meditation as taught by sants. Through meditation you would move into light from darkness. In that light you would hear sound. With the help of these two you would walk into the lap of God. And then what? – “sapanehu nahIn dukh dvait darshan” [No miseries or dualities or miseries born out of duality even in your dreams].

What is the meaning of bhakti? To surrender oneself completely at the feet of God is bhakti. Bhakti means service. Service is that which makes the served pleased. So that act which pleases a person is service to that person. You become pleased as your child runs into your lap, and that pleasure can’t be compared to any other earthly pleasure. No other thing in this world gives you as much pleasure as you get when you embrace your kid. That’s why issueless householders usually remain gripped with a sense of inferiority. Just as we feel pleasure in hugging our sons or daughters, this soul, too, is the kid of the God. So if we reach unto Him, won’t He be happy? A Sufi sant has sung:

“kudaratI kAbe kI tU meharAb mein sun gaur se |
  A rahI dhur se sadA tere bulAne ke liye ||”

[In the vault of the Divine Temple listen with undivided attention.|
 Incessant call is emanating from the Eternal Source to invite you. ||]

What is this body of mine and yours? This precisely is the Divine Temple the sant is talking of. `Kudarat’ here means the Supreme Soul and `kudaratI’ means `of or belonging to God’. `KAbA’ means temple or place of worship. What is this body of mine & yours? This is a temple built by God. The upper portion (skull) is what has been referred to as the `meharAb’ or vault. Listen herein with utmost concentration. How do we listen attentively? Just as you are listening right now; that is, withdrawing attention from everything else and listening. `Dhur’ means the axis and here it implies God. `SadA’, an Arabic word, means call or sound. That quintessential unstruck sound emanates from the God to call you, to invite you. What does it mean? God keeps calling us all the time. He would be too pleased if we went to Him. This, therefore, is the true bhakti of God. It is not that only God will be happy, the individual soul, too, would experience indescribable happiness. If your child is sitting in your lap not merely you but your child also is happy. What is the type of happiness that results when the soul reaches the Supreme Soul? Is it the same as worldly happiness that we experience here? There is no happiness or pleasure in this world that is not associated with unhappiness or pain or sorrow. But such is not the case when the soul unites with the supreme Soul. God is eternal, indestructible. The bliss, therefore, that would flow out of this union shall also be eternal. Because the experience of that bliss never goes away, there is simply no scope for any sorrow.. So, what is the moral of the story? If you long to have everlasting bliss, if you want to move into the lap of the Supreme Lord, worship Him. Bhakti of God includes both types of bhakti – bhakti of `sAkAr’ as well as of `nirAkAr’. Performing both types of bhakti, where the bhakti would reach its culmination, you would be rid of all the sorrows, all the afflictions. This alone has to be learnt and implemented into action in one’s life.

I said this much in your service. This ceremony commemorating Guru Maharaj’s birth anniversary can’t be compared to any other function. You have performed an act of great virtue by contributing to the organisation of this function in any manner – with your body or mind. I thank all those who have contributed to this programme. I pray to the most adorable Gurudev that may your both worlds be fruitful. Say “Victory to Guru Maharaj!”