Online Magazines > Manav Dharam (September 2007)
Discourse - Param Sant Sadgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

THE SPIRITUAL MASTER ERADICATES THE INNER DARKNESS

There are four types of grace which bless each human being. The first is that He has given us a human body. Without the grace of the Almighty, we would have never got a human birth. Many learned scholars think that human birth is the result of good deeds like charity, or pilgrimage, but this is not correct. We know that life revolves in 8.4 million species, so someone would have come from being an elephant, others from pigs and still others from dogs or donkeys. Which pious actions would all these other species have done, by virtue of which they were rewarded with a human birth? It is only by the unbounded grace of the Almighty that one gets a human body. The same is written in the Ramayana: " Kabahun ki kari karuna nar dehi. Det ish binu het sanehi."

Photo: Param Sant Sadgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

Param Sant Sadgurudev Shri Hans Ji Maharaj

The second grace is that of the scriptures. Had there been no scriptures, our condition would have been like a blind animal. However, the essence of reading these scriptures is "Guru binu hoy ki gyan, gyan ki hoy virag binu. Gawahin Ved puran, sukh ki lahahin Hari bhakti binu." "Karandhar sadguru drirha nawa. Durlabh saj sulabh kar pawa." Our scriptures say that no one can get the knowledge of truth without a Spiritual Master; there is no devotion without knowledge and no salvation without devotion. The Master is there to take us across the worldly ocean. A difficult job becomes easy after surrendering to the Master. So it is said, "Guru bin bhav nidhi tare na koi. Hari viranchi Shankar sam hoi." St. Tulsidas says that even if we acquire the potential to create, to sustain and to destroy the entire universe, still our salvation and redemption is not possible without the Master.

We can't talk about something which we do not know. For example, if I do not know the person sitting in front of me, I cannot introduce him to anyone else. So I can know him only if he introduces himself or if somebody else introduces him. The other example is the alphabet. Letters may be written down, but are meaningless to someone who doesn't know the alphabet. Similarly, the Almighty is present within everyone's heart, but without the Spiritual Master, nobody can know Him because it is all dark there. The Master wipes out ignorance by turning on the divine light within. So it is said, "Bandau Gurupad kanj kripa sindhu nar roop hari. Maha moh tam punj jasu vachan ravi karni kar." "I prostrate before the Master who is God in human form, whose words are like the sun in eradicating the darkness of delusion".

So-called gurus nowadays bestow a rosary or teach some words or a verse of a scripture to their disciples and tell them to remember it as the True Name of God and people accept such gurus as real Masters. But St. Tulsidas says that such gurus are not true Spiritual Masters. Only the one who wipes out darkness and kindles the Divine Light within the heart is the true Spiritual Master. 'Gu' means darkness and 'ru' means light. The Word of the Master is as powerful as the sun. Darkness goes away immediately when the sun rises. Similarly the Word of the Master removes the ignorance of lust and attachment and wipes out sins. That is why the Spiritual Master, is called 'Hari' ('the Vanquisher') in human form. St Tulsidas even wrote, "Shri Guru pad nakh mani gan jyoti. Sumirat divya dristi hiy hoti." Divine vision is acquired by meditating on the toenails of the Master, which shine like jewels.

Where does the darkness go after sunrise? In the dark a person can stumble on stones, or can fall into a well, get bitten by snakes or get attacked by enemies. Fears automatically come in our mind in the dark. Due to darkness we cannot see something we want even though it may be lying nearby. But in reality, darkness does not exist. In fact the absence of light is the cause of darkness. Not knowing a thing is ignorance. Without knowing, or without knowledge, belief is not firm, without firm belief there cannot be true love and without true love, there is no devotion and without devotion, there cannot be salvation. "Bhakti swatantra sakal sukh khani. Binu satsang na pawahin prani." Devotion is independent of any worldly requirement. It is an unbounded mine of all riches and pleasure and bliss. But without spiritual discourse, devotion is not possible. One acquires knowledge of devotion through being with true saints. St. Tulsidas describes the glory of satsang and says that fruits and results of all a person's deeds are received after death in subsequent births, whereas the fruit of satsang is instantaneous. "Majjan phal pekhiye tatkala. Kak hoi pik bakahu marala." A crow-like nature is transformed into a cuckoo-like nature, or the harsh becomes sweet through satsang. Everyone likes to listen to the sweet and lucid voice of a cuckoo but not the harsh and unpleasant voice of a crow. If we put a mixture of milk and water before a crane, it will either drink the whole mixture or leave it. But if we put the same mixture before a swan, it will extract all the milk from the mixture but not even a drop of water. So it is said, "Jar chetan gun doshmay, vishva kinha kartar. Sant Hans Gun gahahin pay, parihari wari vikar." "The Almighty has created living and non-living beings, each with merits and demerits. True saints are like swans, as they take the good and leave the bad.

God made both day and night. Good people like daytime as it is all light, whereas evil people prefer darkness. People accept merits or demerits depending on their character. A child drinks milk whereas a leech sucks blood. Saints are swan-like, they remember the Holy Name of God, whereas people who are like cranes are ever in search of fish. But only through spiritual discourse do we know what the Holy Name of God is and how to experience it.

Those who recite the Ramayana and explain its verses, think that God's true name is 'Ram' and this is what they chant. But this is not correct because mind cannot be controlled by muttering 'Ram-Ram'. The true name of God is known as the highest means to control the mind. The importance and its glory was first experienced by Lord Shankar: "Nam prabhav jaan Shiv niko, kal koot phal dinha ami ko. Nam prabhav Shambhu Avinashi, saaj Amangal mangal rashi." Even poison is transformed into nectar by the effect of the true Name of God. By the effect of the Name, fire cooled down for Prahlad. So St. Tulsidas wrote at the beginning of the Ramayana, "Jehi sumirat siddhi hoy, gannayak karivar badan. Karahu anugrah soy, buddhi rashi shubh guna sadan." May the Name, remembering which the elephant-headed Ganesh, the chief of all deities, has been bestowed with various divine powers, shower bliss on me. That Name is the treasury of all wisdom and merits. "Mahima jasu jani ganrau. Pratham poojiyat naam prabhau." "Ganeshji knew the glory and importance of the Name and hence He is the first to be worshipped". Worldly people do not understand the importance of that Name and thus they all are full of miseries and perturbed.

Lord Rama redeemed one woman who had been turned to stone but the Name has restored the wisdom of millions of wicked people. Lord Rama made a bridge over the sea to Lanka with the help of bears and monkeys but through remembrance of the Name, the worldly ocean itself dries up. So, is Rama great or the Name? The Name, which is greater than both God and Lord, is known by Lord Shankar within His heart. The same Name is within each one of us. That Name is acquired from saints.

So, let us all know that Name by taking the shelter of the present Spiritual Master so that our life can be enlightened with divine Knowledge.


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