Do you want Maya's comfort?

Dhan Dhan ParBrahm Parmesar

Dhan Dhan SatGur Parmesar

 

Dear Satsangat jeeo,

 

on this path of Prema Bhagti (loving devotion) you must have noticed that after meeting or talking/emailing  the Sants and Sangat and feeling a real high, we then come back to normal life and face severe tests of Maya.  This has happened to us so many times.  Infact, even before meeting  Sants and Sangat we face many tests of Maya as well!!   Actually, even going into a Sant's Sangat with ego instead of head bowed low, we will face tests of Maya!!  Dassan Dass ji told us that wherever a Sant's presence is (physically or spiritually) then Maya cannot come there.  She is a slave at the feet of the Sant because the Sant has slapped her into defeat.  Kabir Ji says Maya is beloeved of all thre worlds (land, air and sea creature) but she the enemy of a Sant.  

 

Maya has no power to influence the mind of the Sangat that are sitting humbly in the shelter of the lotus feet (Charan Saran) of a Sant.  However, sitting there in ego, slandering the Sant in your mind, criticising their actions, doubting them is also a test of Maya for the egotist who is expecting them to do some miracle to prove they are a Sant.  However, if you go humbly, with full faith and only confess your own misdeeds, only look at your own sins, then you will find it easy to meditate, to focus your mind, to sit and feel peace.  Because your 5 thieves are deactivated as Maya is not there.    So this is a simple way to know if the Sant Sangat you are going to is right for you, just go with a humble heart and ask "Am I able to feel peace of mind here?  Do I come away with love for all and hatred for none?"

 

Coming back to the point about Maya testing us, we have realised that we are tested by God to see if we really, truly, deeply and madly want Him, or are we still seeking Maya's comforts.  At every step on this path, God is using Maya to ask us the question, "Do you want Maya's comfort or Me, the Truth?"    It is as simple as that.  Wether the test involves chasing women, chasing money, chasing family, ambition, career, properties, business, revenge or whatever our weakness is, God is asking us "Do you want Maya more than me?"

 

And you may answer, "Well I need to sort out my wordly needs first."  So God in your Hirdha steps back and become hidden again, and lets your mind chase around after maya for however long it takes you to extinguish the fire of your desires.   Then what happens is that we get some suffering, some sorrow, some sadness and we run back to God, and start doing serious Ardaas, start doing Sant Sangat again, start making serious efforts.  And thanks to the gurParsaad - Eternal blessings f our Sant Guru, within a week or so we feel balanced, happy and calm again. We feel we can do Prema Bhagti again and what a fool we were for wasting all that time chasing after Maya. 

 

Then the Sants give us blessings upon blessings without us even asking, they pray for us, they lift us up, we reach new levels of freedom in our mind, freedom from negative maya thinking.  But then from out of nowhere, we become attracted to something - money, shares, a look of a women, an argument, a family issue which sucks us in.   Without realising we revert back to our old ego self and try and make things happen, chase the thing or outcome we want and get entangled in those thoughts again.    Once again, God is asking us , "Do you still want Maya's comfort, or Me- the Truth?"  and we may answer this time, that we want both. We want Maya's sweet poisonous comfort and we also want God.  But, it doesnt work that way.  Its all or nothing.  But our mind says if we give everything then what will be left for me?  Others will be richer and better than me?   But we forget that when we give everything to God - mind, body and wealth, then He can give us EVERYTHING of His - the whole Universe - Himself..."munn tunn tera dhan bhee tera. Tu takur swamee prabh mera - Miind, body and wealth are all Yours.  (Only) You are my Lord and Master.." -guru Arjun Dev Ji.

 

The way to stay out of Maya's grip on our mind is to think of Guru Arjun Dev ji - SatGuru ji gave absolutely everything.  He showed us how to live through His Gurbani. He showed us give , give , give by ultimately giving his life in martyrdom, giving for the love of God - sacrifice is called Kurbani in punjabi. So remember Guru Ajun Dev Ji's life of  Gurbani and Kurbani. Remember Guru Tegh Bagadur Ji's Gurbani and Kurbani. And remember Guru gobind Singh Ji's Gurbani and Kurbani - he even gave his sons and father and Khalsa for the love of Truth.   Remember them everyday , every second, every time your mind wants to go back into Maya, remember their Gurbani and Kurbani.  Do you think any of the Sants or Gurus were able to give such high llevels of sacrifice just like that?  No, it was a life time of making the little sarcrifices everyday, every second they walked upon this planet, that lead to them being able to give the ultimate sacrifice and all for the Love of Truth - SatNaam.  Same for us, let us make the little sacrifices day by day and these sacrifices cost us nothing.  It costs us nothing to say no I want chase this desire. No I wont be selfish.  No I wont put myself first.  Baba ji said that Jesus wasn't crucified on the cross, he crucified his ego years previously in his Bandagi processs.  Meaning he had already died the true death of ego way before the physical death. 

 

By remembering our SatGuru Ji's extreme levels of giving, we can push away whatever comforts Maya is trying to trap us with.  That is why Baba ji has said to us from day one, to give up desires.  Give up "I want this, I want that" and turn it into , "I want nothing but Naam, Seva and Bandagi".  And then everytime your mind starts getting bogged down by fears and worries for your future, then trust your SatGuru and say , "O bleoved of the Guru, sit steadily in your heart-home (hirdha), your satguru is taking care of everything - thir ghar basoh har jan pyare, satgur tumaray kaaj savaray."   And no matter whatever happens, dont complain, just accept it as what God wanted for you.  Keep both hands in prayer position, bend head down low and with a humble heart say , "Whatever you do is a wonderful thing - Jo tudh bhaavai so bhalee kar" - Guru Nanak Ji.

 

This is the humble way through the mind. This is what we have learned from the Sant Sangat.  This is what we have to earn, to become 100% so our ego face drops away and our God face comes forward to live in love, humility , compassion and service to one and all.  Baba Ji said that in the spiritual realm God is Formless, but on this side he takes the form of Sat Ram Das - Servant of Truth.  Our hirdha is where God is hidden, our Satguru's blessing makes him manifest. He then wants to become Sat Ram Das through our body to serve the world.  What is stopping him is our ego and our wants - haumai and trishna.  So how long will we keep living out of ego and desires and keep facing tests of Maya?  That's upto each of us. God doesnt force us to love him or force us to let Him run us.  He wants us to invite Him through our ardas(prayers)  and pleading (benti).   How fortunate we are Dhan Guru Nanak Dev ji brought Him, Sat Ram Das, out of his own heart. As have Baba ji, Dassan Dass Ji, Tanraj Ji , Namjeevan Ji and so many others we dont even know - read their stories and see how they did it and be inspired to do it too.   However, some in ego may look at those Sants and say they are the same as us, nothing special about them.  But they are nothing like us, we are egotists run by Maya, they are Sat Ram Das - they are God serving us through a human heart.

 

All bow to the Sants in whose company we are freed from Maya and become Sat Ram Das.

 

Dust of your feet

Harjit