Satsang

A ‘gyani', a person who has spiritual insight, understands that the soul is eternal and indestructible. When our clothes wear out, we exchange them for new. In the same way, the soul wears a body like clothing and when that body wears out, the soul throws it away and, according to its karmic imprints, put on a new one. If a person has Knowledge he understands the mysteries of the soul, while an ignorant person does not and suffers accordingly. We should put into practice in our daily life what Guru Maharaj Ji teaches us in satsang. Do not let it go in one ear and out the other. Do not go away empty-handed. The disciple who not only listens carefully but also thinks about what he has heard and puts it into practice is the one who will succeed.
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Satsang

God has sent us into this world for a short time, to do something good, to meditate and remember Him. When He so wishes, He calls us back. People however do not think, ‘I'm here only for a little while, all these relationships of mine are temporary. I am someone's wife, someone's mother, someone's sister or daughter but only for a short time and once my life is over, these relationships cease to exist.'
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Satsang

A potter throws raw, moist clay on a wheel then shapes it into a vessel. If it breaks while he is moulding it, he takes it off the wheel, kneads it into a lump, puts it back on the wheel and starts to shape it again. If it again cracks he repeats the process. He will keep on pounding and reshaping that clay until the pot is properly formed and can be baked in the kiln. If it breaks at this stage, he cannot put the pieces back on the wheel.
It is the same with us. If a person ‘bakes' in the fire of Knowledge he escapes the cycle of reincarnation; but one who does not, has to return to the wheel. He has to live out his attachments and desires in a series of different lives.
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Satsang

During the rainy season a variety of insects hatch. As soon as you turn on the light at night they rush towards it and are burned to death. These insects are naturally attracted to the light which ultimately kills them. A spider spins its own web and then gets trapped in it. It cannot get out and will eventually die there. Flies rush to honey but their tiny wings get stuck so they cannot escape and they forfeit their life.
In the same way, almost as soon as a person is born in this world he gets trapped in a web of attachments and delusions. He is imprisoned in the mundane reality. Then Guru Maharaj Ji comes along to unchain him, to set him free, but a worldly-minded man does not pay attention to his advice, he does not even listen. If someone does listen it is only for a short time and as soon as he gets back into his daily routine he forgets what he has heard; he forgets what he was taught. Sooner or later he ends up thinking that he does not need Spiritual Knowledge and so he leaves the world. This is why he has to be reborn in a variety of life forms. He has to wander through the cycle of species. Spiritual Knowledge can deliver him from this dilemma, but in his ignorance he does not understand this.
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Satsang

A short time ago we heard a song which says that Guru Maharaj Ji cuts the cords of maya and attachment which bind us. It is indeed true that the Spiritual Master comes into this world for the salvation of his disciples and to free them from the restrictions of unreality, because a disciple cannot achieve liberation so long as there are traces of wrong understanding and attachment in him. The wrong perspective that he has, due to maya's influence, is a barrier to freedom in this world and in the next world.
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REMEMBERING THE MASTER REMOVES ALL OBSTACLES

Sant Tulsidas Ji wrote in Shri Ramcharitmanas,“ Ram bhakti chinta mani sundar. Basai garud jake ur andar. Param Prakash roop din rati. Na chahiye kachhu diya ghrit bati .” Within the heart of devotees, the Divine Light shines day and night and it does not require any external lamp, oil or wick. All creatures can see the light of sun, moon, electricity and fire, but the light which is beyond all these is within the heart of all. Devotion is to know that and meditate.

                                         Param Sant Sadgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj



“ Ram bhakti mani ur bas jake. Dukh lavlesh na swapnehu take.” Those who possess the jewel of devotion to the Lord within their heart, do not feel sorrow even in a dream. Those, however, who are bereft of devotion to the Divine Light, can never be happy and peaceful, because without devotion the cycle of birth and death cannot end and one has to suffer dreadfully in birth as well as in death. “ Bhaktiheen nar sohahi kaise. Binu jal warid dekhiye jaise. Bhaktihin gun sab sukh aise. Lavan bina bahu vyanjan jaise. Bhaktihin viranchi kin hoi. Sab jeevahu sam priya mohi soi. Bhaktivant ati nichahu prani. Mohi pran priya as mam vani. ” Those who are not devoted to God are like clouds without rain - such clouds are useless. All merits and pleasures without devotion are like all dishes of delicious foods cooked without salt.
Lord Rama says that people - even Brahma the Creator - without devotion mean no more to Him than those insects and flies who merely are born and die. On the other hand, a devotee may be devoid of merits, education, strength and wealth but still the Lord loves him “even more than HIS own life”. A person may be the greatest sinner but after he takes shelter in God, he is called a saint.
Lord Krishna said to Arjuna, “If you die while fighting, you will get heaven and if you win then you will be king of the entire earth and you will be praised all over the world”. Those who conquer desire, anger, temptation and lust are entitled to be called devotees and will enjoy the pleasures of this world as well as hereafter. However, a man generally regards service to the Master, which will free him from the shackles of worldly lust and attachment, as useless while service rendered to wife, children, friends, relatives and building a house as useful. What use will all these be when this body has to be abandoned? So, service to the Master is the door to salvation and all other things are like a spider web of illusory traps. Both paths are before you. You can choose whichever suits you.
Once there was a disciple who always used to ask Guru Maharaj Ji to free him from the net of illusory things. One day, both disciple and Master were walking through a dense forest. Guru Maharaj Ji suddenly ran and caught hold of a tree and called to the disciple, “This tree won't let me go! Set me free!” The disciple said, “Maharaj Ji, it is you who are holding the tree. The tree is not holding you.” Guru Maharaj Ji said, “Brother, in the same way, it is you who has caught hold of illusory things. These things have not caught you. If you let go of them you will be free. Illusory things belong to God, but you think that these belong to you. So, let go and serve Guru Maharaj Ji and then you will be instrumental in redeeming not only yourself, but seven generations of your ancestors.”

Four ashramas or stages of life are described in the scriptures. The first is the celibate stage, then family life, then retiring from the world and finally living as a renunciate. But people nowadays are so attached to family life that they do not want to leave it. This is all due to the power of attachment and greed, but only after one breaks through these attachments he can have love for God. So it is said, “ Ram Nam sabke sath, kunji santon ke hath.” The wealth of Ram Nam is present in everyone's heart but the key to possessing this wealth is in the hands of the saints.“ Tan man dhan do santan hath. Chabi tab awe chele ke hath.” Unless we humbly ask them, saints will not impart the knowledge of the Holy Name of God to us. So we should understand what is beneficial and non-beneficial for us and make our human life successful. How can a person love God unless he has unflinching faith and love in his Spiritual Master? Without the true Master, one cannot realise God. If someone has love today but not tomorrow, how can such love be called constant and true? If a person is against the Master, then it must be due to some worldly thing because devotion to the Master and craving for illusory things are direct opposites. Those who crave for worldly things are bound to fall out of step. “ Guru bhakti ati kathin hai, jyon khande ki dhar. Hale dole kati mare, nishchal utare par. ” Devotion to the Master is very difficult. It is like walking on a sword's edge. One will be pierced if he falters and only a devotee with pure and strong resolve will succeed in the path of devotion. If a devotee remembers the Holy Name continuously, the Master is always with him, even though he may be physically hundreds of miles away. Those who achieved the cherished goal of salvation, got it by virtue of their service to the Master. King Shivaji earned the title of ‘Chhatrapati' through serving his Master. Guru Govind Singh Ji had thousands of disciples but when it came to the test, only five proved themselves to be true. Even today in gurudwaras, the ‘Beloved Five' are given the first offerings (‘ bhog '). Once forty of his disciples, due to hunger and thirst, fled from the battlefield where they were fighting the Mughals. When they arrived home, their wives asked if Guru Maharaj Ji had sent them any prashad (blessed food). They replied that Guru Maharaj Ji had apparently become mentally disturbed after the murder of his sons and now he wanted to get them all killed. When their wives heard this, they said, “You should be ashamed of yourselves! Abandoning Guru Maharaj Ji and leaving him all alone in the battlefield is a heinous sin. How long will you survive? Had you died while following the commands of the Master, you would have achieved salvation.” Then they realized their mistake, so they returned to Guru Maharaj Ji and begged for forgiveness. The Master was very kind and he gave them salvation as well. Likewise those devotees who obeyed the commands of the master, reached the highest abode. “Tirth nahaye ek phal, sant mile phal char. Sadguru mile anek phal, kahat Kabir vichar”: One reward of going on pilgrimage is that you meet many people and the body gets washed clean, and if you meet a saint, you gain the four aims of life. But the rewards of meeting the Master are many. “Arhsath tirath guru charan, parvi hot akhand. Sahjo aisa dham nahin, sakal akhand brahmand.” Sahjo Bai, a great devotee, said all sixty-eight holy places exist at the feet of the Master where there is rejoicing all the time. There is no place like it in the whole universe and those who bathe here are freed of all obstacles. So it is said, “Guru ke sumiran matra se, nashat vighna anant. Tate sarva arambh mein, dhyavat hain sab sant.” All obstacles and hindrances are wiped out by simply meditating upon the Master. So having acquired Spiritual Knowledge, meditate as much as possible and achieve salvation. www.manavdharam.org

Satsang

Unless we do meditation and remember Holy Name, our mind will keep on wavering and we will not be redeemed from the cycle of birth and death. If we want to eradicate this malady, we will have to give up ego and pride, because this takes us to hell and devours our devotion. So it is essential to understand satsang and implement it in our life. Guru Maharaj Ji, by his grace, has sown the seed of Spiritual Knowledge within our hearts. If we do not let it grow by doing meditation, then it will remain in the seed state. So we have to grow the seed of Spiritual Knowledge within our hearts by watering it with the rain of satsang and remembrance of the Holy Name.
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WELCOME TO 2010

Stay ‘present' in everyday life. The power of presence breathes through you from moment to moment in the form of vibrational pranic energy. Whenever you are attentive to it, effortlessly and automatically you will transcend the two opposites of life - hope and despair - and will always be enjoying the inner symphony and rhythm of your life-breath which is the touchstone of your being.
The body that you can see and touch cannot take you into ‘being'. This visible and tangible body is only an outer shell, but when you connect yourself with your own life-breath then you experience slowly and gradually the magnetic field of the inner subtle body which is your deeper reality. Therefore, to be conscious of one's own consciousness is the essence of spirituality. Practise it every moment with total attention and enjoy the ecstasy of absorption within your own being.
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As we enter 2010

Time rolls on, the clock never stops ticking. Time is the measurement. We measure time in hours, days, months and years. We are entering into the year 2010 with new hopes and new resolutions. We are changing every moment. The world is in constant flux. The principle of impermanence is the most vital principle which we experience from the day we are born. Infancy rolls into childhood and then youth and then before we know it, old age is staring us in the face. Death is the final exit for every human being on this planet. It is rightly said that death is inevitable. What happens to human beings after death is a perennial question which has been haunting the minds of people since time immemorial. Is death the end of human life or does something still remain which even death cannot destroy?
The research done by the great saints and Spiritual Masters affirms that our life force does not end with death but continues moving ahead to perfection through different births. Swami Vivekananda said that every soul is destined for perfection and unless and until perfection is achieved the journey of soul will continue. According to spiritual masters, soul is endowed with the body-mind mechanism for achieving perfection and it gets the body appropriate to its propensities and level of consciousness. Human form, therefore, is a golden opportunity given to a soul by the grace of the Almighty by which it can transcend the limitations of body and mind and have an experience of eternal life.
At the start of this new year let us resolve to focus our attention on the upward journey of the soul to its destination of perfection or nirvana which is the end of suffering and attainment of total awareness, equanimity and tranquility. It is our day-to-day experience that life is full of miseries and sorrows. There is not a single person, no matter highly ranked he may be, who has not suffered from miseries and sorrows. Guru Nanak Dev Ji, on the basis of his own experience, proclaimed that the whole world is miserable except for the one whose mind is resting in the Holy Name.
The science of religion deals with the life before, the life here and the life after death. It studies life in its totality. It believes that life is a continuous process which does not end with death. Death is only a transition from one plane to another. Therefore the wise person is one who regulates his life in such a way that he does not only make his life here peaceful but lays the foundation for his future life through meditation and the selfless action of serving his fellow beings. Meditation in its true sense means hooking up the mind to the Holy Name, which is naturally vibrating within the life breath of every living being. But the mystery of the Holy Name, which is the basis of our true existence, is revealed to us when we find the perfect Spiritual Master. The need for such a Master in the course of growth towards higher life is logical, because he is the one who opens up the spiritual dimension lying dormant in man. To explore and understand the mystery of life, every great soul approached the Spiritual Master and followed his guidance to achieve perfection.
We wish you all the very best for the New Year and pray to the Almighty to make us strong in meditation and selfless service which is the saving grace for all of us.
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