SatNaam Ji,
Dandauth Bandhna ji
feeling good today with your blessings, thanks for asking. Feeling more connected everyday with "SatNaam KartaPurakh" - thatis what Dassan Dass ji asked us to do simran upon to delete our ego, for us to completely realise that SatNaam is the Creator and Doer of Everything - not me. Not me, means this physical body and mind. When we think, and most people do think that "I am doing something" , they mean their physical body and mind is doing it. That there is no other power behind what they are doing. That is what is called the ego. Ego thinks that this physical body and mind are the source of everything - "I did it / I didn't do it". And then ego expands by having pride of the name given to this body, having pride of beloging to a religion/caste/nation/class/tribe. And all attachments to people , wealth and properties are actually only attachments to this physical body via the mind i.e. mind gets us attached.
That is why Dhan Dhan Guru Nanak Dev Ji says "hau vich aayaa hau vich gaaya, hau vich janmay hau vicha maaray ...
Salok, First Mehla:
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.
In ego they become truthful or false.
In ego they reflect on virtue and sin.
In ego they go to heaven or hell.
In ego they laugh, and in ego they weep.
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.
In ego they love Maya, and in ego they are kept in darkness by it.
Living in ego, mortal beings are created.
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. ||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.
In ego they become truthful or false.
In ego they reflect on virtue and sin.
In ego they go to heaven or hell.
In ego they laugh, and in ego they weep.
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.
In ego they love Maya, and in ego they are kept in darkness by it.
Living in ego, mortal beings are created.
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. ||1||
Ego is called false (mithya, koor)) in Gurbani. It means living thinking that "I am something, I am someone" is false. And all deeds that "I think I am doing" are being recorded - every second of our existance has to be accounted for, but in ego we do not accept this either - think there is no consequences for what "I did." What causes the ego, "me" to do deeds? My desires. If you had no desire, you wouldnt get up to eat, or to meet someone, or to try and achieve something. Desires are like the carrot on the stick, and we like a donkey are trying to fulfill our desires with the hope of happiness and heaven at the end of it. But desires may give us short term happiness, but in the long run, they lead to unhappiness and hell. Eg We eat chocolate and crisps and coke, short term pleasure of the tongue = heaven. But long term bad health = hell. We pray for a son and get one = happiness, but he grows up and gives us hell. We want to become a millionaire businessman (=heaven), but end up broke in a manual job = hell. In the process of trying to achieve our desires we may do so many bad deeds, cheating, lying, stealing, fraud, corruption, bribery and so on. Thinking only the result matters, not how we got there. Or we may not get anything that we desired and end up depressed, angry, rfustrated, perhaps even committing suicide.
That is the result of living in ego and desire...haumai and trishna as Baba Nanak ji calls it, haumai and trishna only make us into a slave of Maya.
So to wake us up, to make us see the bigger picture, Guru Nanak Dev ji gives us the spiritual wisdom, the Brahm Gyan. And tells us that living under ego and desires we are mistaken. We are living in the illusion that "I am doing something." Because we have completely ignored the soul part of us, our spirit, our lifeforce, God within us. What can this body and mind do if there was no soul to keep us breathing, to beat our heart, to run our digestive systems, to heal our injuries and so on? So Guru Nanak Dev ji tells our ego that actually it has no power, no power at all. That is explanation of our existance is false, our existance is due to the Higher Power, not to the power of our mind and body.
No power to speak, no power to keep silent.
No power to beg, no power to give.
No power to live, no power to die.
No power to rule, with wealth and occult mental powers.
No power to gain intuitive understanding, spiritual wisdom and meditation.
No power to find the way to escape from the world.
He alone has the Power in His Hands. He watches over all.
O Nanak, no one is high or low. ||33||
No power to beg, no power to give.
No power to live, no power to die.
No power to rule, with wealth and occult mental powers.
No power to gain intuitive understanding, spiritual wisdom and meditation.
No power to find the way to escape from the world.
He alone has the Power in His Hands. He watches over all.
O Nanak, no one is high or low. ||33||
Guru Nanak Dev ji then continues to break the illusion that our ego is capable of doing anything and achieving things. Saying that we only receive what we have sown. That our deeds (karni) do matter because there are consequences (karma). So no matter how much we are praying to be a millionaire, if we haven't given in charity in the past lives, no millions are coming to us in this life. Baba ji says the ones who are starving in the third world didnt do any charitable deeds in past lives, so nothing is coming back to them in this life. So there is no point in ego trying to make things happen that are not going to happen. And conversely if things do happen , its because we are reaping our karma, and not because of ego - that "I did it".
Then Guru Nanak Dev ji says, just get out of desires. Chasing desires is pointless, it only gets you entagled in the web of maya. Desires are all just a sweet poison - they tempt us with heaven but result in hell. So get out of ego saying "I WANT THIS , I WANT THAT." And start accepting what GOD WANTS for us, GOD'S WANT = HUKAM = GOD'S WILL.
So what does that mean, to accept this body and mind do not have any power, to stop chasing desires, because we only get what is destined for us according to our KARMA. When our mind comes our of ego and desires and starts accepting there is a Higher Power running everything, then everything starts changing for us. We become in tune with nature and our body which is part and parcel of nature. Our mind goes into peace. We realise the Divine Light within, the soul - the God-part. We realise this is the real Infinite Divine Power and the more we fall in love with it, the more there is to love - it has no end. We realise that this Infinite Divine Power is the Truth and the Creator and Doer of everything - SatNaam KartaPurakh. We become an instrument of the Infinte Divine Power in the world, now we are living in the will of God, doing what God Wants i.e. living in the Hukam.
So God has created everything as per His Hukam, and we are also part of His Hukam. But because of our ego we think "I AM A PHYSICAL BODY, I A DOING IT - JUST ME , MYSELF AND I." So ego is a curtain of falsehood that has to be torn down in order to realise the Truth. That is why the very first question in Gurbani is
"kiv sachyara hoia, kiv kuray tutay paal
-.how does one become truthful? How is the curtain of falsehood torn down?"
And the asnwer is in the next line, "hukam rajaa chalnee, nanak likhiaa naal ...live according to the Hukam, live in His pleasure."
Ultimately, the Sants tell us that they become one with the Hukam i.e. with the Infinite Divine Power, with the Universal Life Force.
There is no more "ME and YOU GOD", it all becomes "TU TERA, TU TERA - YOU YOURS, YOU YOURS."
They are fully realised beings who no longer live in the illusion that Ego is doing anything, but are one with God doing everything. Amd ultimatey there is no karma to repay, its all wiped clean, they go back to God with a clean slate, a pure divine soul.
Dust of your feet
Harjit
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