Understanding HUKAM - God;s Command

QN:

Fateh Harjit,

 

Just read your excellent reply below. Thank you.

 

I wanted to know the following: if everything is under Gods Hukam, "Hukmai undarr sab ko barr humkan na koi" then are our efforts for doing good deeds (or on the flip side doing wrong/bad deeds) in Gods control too? Or is it just as simple as, do good and God realises and takes care of the rest!

 

Fateh.

 

REPLY:

 

Sat Naam Ji - Dandauth Bandhana Ji,

 

this question often comes up and also confused me too , that on the one hand Gurbani teaches us that everything is under the HUKAM meaning under God's will or God's command,  but on the other side Gurbani says that "aapay hee beej apaay hee khao", meaning whatever we sow we reap.   We remember a Gurmukh Ji telling us that not even a leaf moves without being under the HUKAM.  But, then people misuse this idea of HUKAM and say "well I am drinking alcohol because it is under God's hukam, so I will also stop when He stops me"  and they take no responsibility for their own actions.  Also the other misunderstanding that arises is that people then think we have no free will, that everything we are doing is already pre determined - like we are just actors playing out a script.   however, from our own experiences we know that does seem right as we do have a lot of influence on what is going to happen in our life.

 

We remeber also asking Baba ji once that at the very beginning of Jap Ji , Guru Nanak Dev ji asks the key question that we all need to ask ourself "kiv sachyara hoeeaa, kiv kuray tutay paal" - meaning "How does one becom efull of Truth?  how is the veil of falsehood removed?"  And gives the answer that "hukam rajai chalnaa nanak likhiaa naal"  meaning that "live according to the preordained Hukam - command of God."   So we asked Baba ji "how can I live according to the HUKAM if I dont even understand what the HUKAM is?"   And Baba ji replied, "Only a Brahmgiani understands and lives 100% by the HUKAM - command of God.  so until we become BrahmGiani we need to come under the shelter of a BrahmGiani and live by their guidance - Gur Mat - divine wisdom."

 

So coming under the guidance of Dassan Dass ji, we have read sukhmani Katha and understood HUKAM a lot better now.  Dassan Dass Ji explains that the HUKAM is actually all of God's Divine Laws as very kindly written down in GurBani.  Just as the the Law of the Land forms the constitution, saw the Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji contains the consitituion of God's Eternal Kingdom.  So living according to the Hukam means live according to the Laws defined in gurbani.  And what is the key law?  The law of Karma which states that we have to take responsibility for our actions - "that what we sow is what we reap"  and that according to our deeds some go closer to god and some go further away ..karmee apo apanee ke neray ke dhoor.

 

A simple example is to take a game of football,  somebody has made the rules (HUKAM) but the players have the choice to become heroes (score a goal) or villians (get sent off) according to how well they play within those rules. 

 

At another level , all the laws of nature that god has revealed to scientists are also God's command and a leaf only moves according to those laws of nature.  We also are functioning under those laws of nature.  Nature is another name for God that operates the Creation.  So the Laws of Nature are also the HUKAM.   So once again if we drink alcohol our body eventually becomes sick.   So under the laws of nature - the HUKAM, we have the choice to eat well, excercise and so on and reap the rewards of good health.

 

Baba ji also explained to us that just as our body is functioning under the HUKAM - the laws of nature, within us there are bacteria or viruses that are also operating under the HUKAM for them.  And I guess within those viruses and bacteria their are chemical processes going on which are als operating according to the laws of nature - the HUKAM.

 

So HUKAM is God's Laws - Divine Laws and Laws of Nature.   Divine Laws are in Guru Granth Sahib Ji, Laws of Nature are being revelead to the scientists as God pleases.  And we are operating with free will according to those Laws.

 

At an even higher level - Brahmgiani level, we understand that the Brahmgiani is no longer making any choices out of free will.  Free will was only useful in order for us to do good deeds and minimise bad deeds, whcih then resulted in us being eternally blessed- GurParsaad.  But once we go beyond good deeds we become one with God and then it is HIM that has replaced the mind of the BrahmGiani.  So a BrahmGiani is actually operating 100% and directly under God's command.  Everything a BrahmGiani does is under HUKAM.   The best example for this we could think of an astronaut needs a rocket to get out of Earth's orbit, but once he is out in space there is no gravity and the laws of nature change for him - he floats around and needs minimal effort to move the rocket about.

 

So Maya is like the law of gravity.  We waste our energy going left and right - going into TAMO (darkness) and RAJO (desires) aspect of Maya.  But when we start doing good actions we start going upwards and channel all of our energy and efforts upwards, like the power of the rocket firing us up.  These good efforts are under the SATO aspect of Maya.  Just like the rocket is till under the law of gravity. 

 

But when we a re blessed to go beyond Maya, like escaping Earth's orbit, then the rules change.  So for a Brahmgiani there experince of life is like the astronaut floating in space.  we cant apply the same laws of Karma that apply to us under Maya , to the Brahmgiani who is beyond the three aspects of Maya into the fourth state - chautha Pad.

 

This is why Gurbani can confuse us, because sometimes some verses are for the Brahmgiani state of being, and other verses are for the ones in Maya like me.

 

The other thing that Baba ji said about hukam was to treat everything that has happened in the past as happening according to the Hukam.  This is helpful because the mind is always spending its time in thoughts of the past and thoughts of the future.  Baba ji said these sets of thoughts are like the millstones used to grind corn.  So most people get ground down by these sets of thoughts.  Especially if bad things or traumatic things or unresolved issues exist from the past, then they grind us down.  Because we feel helpless or frsutrated that we cant change the past, that we cant undo what was done, that we need to punish someone for revenge etc etc.  But Baba ji said by accepting that everything that happened in the past happened according to God's Hukam, we can let it go and be free of the millstone.

 

Dust of your feet

 

Harjit