The mystery of life must be solved; but he who feels the solution will just describe his feelings, and he who reaches a conclusion through inference will just explain his theory of inferences; and what of the person who has walked the emotional path? He will start dancing, for he can only express himself emotionally. This is all due to the fact that none of them has seen – that is why their state­ments will differ, and that is why their statements cannot be absolutely correct. One can begin to see why there is always so much conflict on the subject of religion. The Vedas, in this regard, say, Truth is one, but people through intellect have explained it variously. We should always remember this point: that this subject is such that cannot be completely grasped by intellect.

And what does Brihadaranyaka Upanishad say? It says that to bring God into intellectual terms is as im­possible as trying to quench the thirst with wine or extract oil from sand. On this same subject, Guru Nanak says, It cannot be achieved by thought, though the thoughts be millions. It is not a subject for thinking, although thinking may take one a little nearer towards finding it; so when will the riddle be solved? When senses are immobile, the mind at rest, and the intellect is stilled, then the soul perceives.

Without a perfect Master, there is no right understanding, and therefore no real progress. Without right under­standing each one sits in pride, saying, "My way is the right one" and attempts to force everyone else to accept it. Why all the conflict and dissension when all these different phases have the same source? Even in the matter of way of life, some say the householder's life is the best, and some say the renunciate's life is the best. So which is better?

The Masters say: Happiness lies neither in the home, nor in leaving it; happiness lies in the knowledge gained in the Master's company. Finding true happiness does not rest with renouncing or not renouncing the worldly life, and can only be found by contacting the Truth at the feet of a Master. The Masters are those who have seen the Truth, and therefore are not their statements more correct? The holy books contain the words of those who had right understanding – they saw, and they gave out.

Now what is right understanding? In a few words: There is someone who gave us birth (father and mother), but brothers, there must be someone who is responsible for the creation of all life, and through whom all birth comes about. This is an inference of the intellect, is it not? All worship the Maker in one form or another, call Him Ram, Allah or God. Now Ram, Allah and God are not all different beings. The Creator of all creation is one, but was given various names by the Rishis, Munis and Mahatmas. In truth, He has no name. Bow down to the Nameless. But to help the people remember Him, the Masters gave Him names. For instance, He was called Ram; this word comes from rum which means "reverberating in all creation". He is immanent in all forms, and to realize that Being with many names, we entered one or another of the religions. Hundreds of lovers, but the Beloved is one for all; religion and caste are different, but the work is one for all. This statement is really the very basis of right understanding, and if right understanding develops, where is conflict, where is dissension?

The soul is a conscious entity. God has given a physical form to each one, the outer and inner construction of which is the same in all – even appearance is the same. The same sicknesses attack the physical form. Furthermore, each soul is under the influence of the mind and the senses, which in turn drag it outward towards the worldly enjoyments. So he who separates the soul from the mind, and mind from the senses, and senses from enjoyments, gets the right understanding in truth. He is a devotee of the one Creator, and by sitting beside such an enlightened devotee of God, one can also gain the right understanding. For lack of it, man remains trapped in the world. All men, in all religions, are subject to this imprisonment, and if you want to release yourself from this J depressing condition, then: When senses are immobile, the mind at rest, and the intellect is stilled, then the soul perceives.

You can see that even the cure for man's misery is one and the same for all. Go to one who has stilled his mind and senses. If you go to an intellectually learned person, you will hear a very fine discourse, with perhaps five or ten different mean­ings to one point, through inference; but he will not have seen what he is speaking of, and what is more important, he cannot show it to you.

Swami Ji Maharaj says, If you desire release from the world, listen to the Master's instructions.

When I spoke of these things in the West, they asked me, "You have described the Truth in very simple and clear words; why has it been difficult to understand up to now ?" I explained that those who described the Truth for them had themselves no experience of it, and could merely express some ideas on the intellec­tual level. In this context, Truth has been described so often and in so many different ways that whatever was known of it originally has been forgotten. No wonder it is now diffi­cult for people to understand all these different theories.

Those who had no first–hand knowl­edge were just beating about the bush. A person with even a little dis­cernment will see the difference be­tween the words of a Master and those of an ordinary man. The Gurbani describes this as the undeveloped words of worldly people and the developed words of the spiritually enlightened. The words that come from the spiritually enlightened come directly from some higher Power. Actually, all speech is sus­tained, but there are two types of sound: one being hidden and the other apparent. The hidden Sound sustains everything – since when? This sound started beyond the four yugas. It vibrated the Truth. The Sound which becomes apparent is sustained by pranas, the vital airs or energy; but the hidden Sound is not sustained by anything. We are all the worshippers of the latter.

What should one do to gain the right understanding? Enjoy Satsang – the company of one who has become the image of Truth itself. Satsang is not the company of intellectuals, lecturers, hypocrites, propagandists, or paid preachers. All Masters advise that to solve the mystery of life one should first develop the right understanding: to understand in reality that we are soul in the body, embodied soul, no matter whether we are Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or any other religion. Recognize all men's caste as one. There is no difference between him who lives in the city and him who lives in the jungle; for all men are truly em­bodied souls, and all are sustained by the same Power: that which controls the soul in the body. Just consider that there are nine physical orifices, yet the soul cannot run through all of them. Only when the Sustainer or Controller withdraws does the soul also leave the body. The breath leaves the body; it could remain outside, but there is something controlling that, something drawing it back. This is the mystery of life, solving which you will gain right understanding. Without the right understanding, nothing worthwhile is achieved, but with right understand­ing you will have right thoughts, and right thoughts will give you right speech and right actions; from then on love for all mankind develops automatically. There will be no question of fighting with others over petty differences; you will express what you have seen, and not what was being inferred.

It is a great blessing to have been given a human life, and the aim of human life is to solve the mystery of it. If you cannot as yet still the mind, intellect and senses, then keep the company of him who can do this. Where the Satguru is, there is the company of the Truth. Satsang is not where we hear stories about the past and the future, for the sake of earn­ing someone's livelihood. Where even the scriptures are explained in a thousand different lights of under­standing, right understanding cannot be developed like this. Excuse me, but the volume of preaching is at a peak in this age – I do not think that it has ever been so ripe. And the re­sult of it all is hatred for one another. The steps we were taking were misdirected and we are still doing it today. So what is the remedy? As I have said: to sit beside someone who has the right understanding.

We will now take Guru Nanak Sahib's hymn:

When you meet a true Satguru, you get the jewelled Right Knowledge.

Satguru is the image of Truth, who has become the true knowledge, and who sees that the Lord is the Doer of all things and is working in all creation. Know a Satguru to be one who brings everyone together. This does not mean a guru of any particu­lar sect, but a Guru of the world: of all mankind. Such a Guru does not see your religion, but rather sees you – that you are a soul in the physical form. He has freed himself from all shackles, and can free others also. The question of how the senses can be withdrawn from outer attractions, how the mind can be free from the senses, how the soul can be analyzed from the mind, are all part of a practi­cal science of which the Satguru is a competent expert who can give the scientific experience to the aspirant, who in turn, with the guidance and instruction of the Satguru, learns to increase that experience daily through regular practice. With such a method the disciple can become as expert as the Guru.

There is a great difference between a Master and a philosopher's stone: The latter makes gold from iron, but the former makes us like himself. A philosopher's stone cannot make another philosopher's stone, but the Master can make souls realized. This is why all Masters stress that read­ing, writing, and thinking are some­thing apart from spirituality. Reason­ing is the help, and reasoning is the bar. If you go on poring over books and drawing inferences intellectually, you will at least be taking the first steps with the help of the words of the Masters found in the holy scrip­tures. But all this cannot be of any use in a practical science of with­drawing the senses from sense–objects and releasing the mind. For this, some higher bliss must be enjoyed, which up to now the mind has never had the opportunity to taste. It is all a practical matter, and he who realized the subject practi­cally can give the secret knowledge of it. One must seek his company.

When I was searching for Truth, I can tell you that my search was in­tense. I would start to read a certain book at night, and would study the whole night through without cease; only to rise in the morning with yet no way out discovered. The books held very good thoughts – like green orchards, very refreshing. The heart starts to desire for those things mentioned therein; but how? The books say, "God is ever–existent – no place is without Him – He is ever–apparent." But how to see Him? This is the burning question, is it not? I can only repeat that it is a practical subject.

In this regard, Bulleh Shah says, Why read this pile of books? Burdening your head with all these thoughts? Leave the words, leave all calcu­lations, drive away these atheistic ways.

Is it not true that one becomes more confused by excessive reading –tiring the brain needlessly? Bookish knowledge is all wilderness – there is no way out. The love of One should dwell in your heart, that is all. Is this not the purpose behind reading scriptures – to love the Lord? Tulsi Sahib says, Reading and reading, the whole world died, no one became a teacher; if you dwell on the word "love " and develop that in yourself, you will become a real pundit (teacher).

The purpose of reading is to become a devotee of the Lord, and to love all beings, as the Lord is in each one. People do not do this. Instead, they become lecturers, etc., but they do not develop the love in themselves.

All the world's conflicts are due to lack of love. And all conflicts are due to those who did not realize the Truth, but chose to become powerful through learning; and they are responsible for the discord and strife from which mankind is suffering.

Had they realized the Truth, they would have spoken it out, but they said, "No, only our religion is the right one." In this way they drove one religion against another, they built controversial conditions, and then sat down, and watched while men shed their blood for these use­less causes. We have a clear example in the partition of India and Pakistan which came about through suchlike conditions, and those who created them sat aside while approximately 1500000 persons where butchered needlessly. If they had had even a little right understanding, this trag­edy would never have happened.

Some years ago, during our Hazur's lifetime, there had been some trouble in Multan (now in Pakistan), be­tween some Hindus and Muslims. Baba Sawan Singh Ji Maharaj went there and held a Satsang, hearing which the people said, "If only you had come earlier, this trouble would not have arisen." Masters come to the world to join the brothers and sisters together, not to break them apart. And they come to rejoin the souls back to the Lord. This is the work of the Masters. They say, "Love." In love there is oneness, union – not aloofness.

Naam is the sustainer of Khand and Brahmand. To realize this Naam is the right understanding. The only true thing, the only pure thing, is the Naam.

Tulsi Sahib says, "They chant the four Vedas, eighteen Puranas, nine Viakran, and six Shastras, but lose the truth given out in them!" Such is the case with followers of all religions. They go on reading their holy scriptures parrot–like, and do not follow the meanings underlying them. Not only was the Truth lost by reading all these, but he also says, Without knowing the Surat–Shabd (the connection of the attention (Surat) with the inner Sound – Shabd or Word), one is like the chandool bird, and can imitate all words without the underlying meaning. While the attention or soul does not meet God, the Oversoul, and surrounded by mind and senses remains a prisoner because it has not been analyzed from them, then what is the value of book-learning? Tulsi Sahib likens this to a chandool bird, which copies any sound it hears.

It does not mean that one should never write or think, but alone they have no value. The true aim behind reading the scriptures, if one fully understands what one reads, is to gain the realization. Since the world began, jiva did not leave the books, did not get true happiness. What a clear statement! We just cannot let go off the holy books and scriptures. Of course, outer knowledge is like a garland of flowers adorning a rea­lized person who will then explain the path of Truth in many ways, and thereby help the different types of seekers to understand; but a realized soul is a realized soul, with or with­out worldly degrees, and whatever he says is pregnant with meaning, over­flowing with love and Truth. Sheikh Saadi says that if a learned man is unrealized, then reading and writing is like a donkey's burden upon his head. On this very subject, Guru Amar Das Ji says that it is like making a sweet dish without any sugar – stirr­ing it with a spoon from morn till night, will it give any sweet taste? So Guru Nanak is explaining the im­portance of right understanding.

When you meet a true Satguru, you get a jewelled right knowledge; Giving your mind to your Guru, you get the imperishable love.

Right understanding will only come, when the soul transcends the mind. Just think about it carefully: you are on the mind's level, and as yet have not solved the mystery. If you remain at that level how will you get full understanding?

When you go to a realized Soul to get right understanding, go with all humility, put aside your views. What you know, you know. While you are with Him, try to understand what He is saying. Consider the level He is speaking from, and then compare it to your own knowledge. Many would hesitate to go to Him for pride of their own knowledge. The man of prominent worldly position will not go, for he is intoxicated with his own power; and a rich man will not go, for he is lost in pride of wealth. Remember, the God–realized person cannot be bought with money, im­pressed by power, pushed by force.

When you go to Him, put aside your own ideas – after all, no one can rob you of them! We make the mistake of measuring what He is trying to say with what we already know: "We have heard that before"; "So and so said that" etc. Brothers, He will say all this and more, for He must speak on man's level for fuller compre­hension, and will quote many truths that others have said, that the seeker may find his way more easily. But the fact remains, if the seeker wants to receive, he must still his intellect for a while, and sit in all humility. If the cup is placed below the pitcher, it will be filled; but if it is placed above the pitcher, how can it be filled? That is why it is said, When the mind is sold to the Satguru, such a dis­ciple s work is crowned with success.

When Ashtavakra gave the (inner) knowledge to King Janak, do you know what he asked for? He asked the king for his body, his wealth, and his mind. Body and wealth are sustained by the mind, so wherever the mind goes, everything goes.

Guru Nanak is telling us that if one gives the mind to the Guru, one gets the permanent love.

Swami Ji Maharaj says, O knowledge, you are very ignorant; You know not the value of a Master.

Masters are a surging ocean of love: love for the Lord and love for hu­manity. But man would test them with his intellect; an impossibility, for they are full of the Nectar of Love; in their company, true hankering for Thee bursts forth to have an over­flowing cup of love for God and humanity. Put aside your intellect and become receptive, and then you will see.

Once in Berlin, Germany, during my talk which was being interpreted from English to German by an inter­preter, the audience told the inter­preter to stop as the interpretation was not necessary – "We understand more from His eyes." Eyes are the windows of the soul through which the intoxication and the import there­of is conveyed.

Giving up the mind does not mean one loses one's reason or intellect; it means, first of all, to still the mind completely and fully grasp what the Guru is saying. If you put aside the I-hood, you will get the right import, thereby becoming receptive to absorb the perpetual radiation of power from the Guru. Kabir Sahib has warned us what can happen: Mind is given elsewhere, body is in the Master's company; Kabir says, how can you dye an unbleached cloth? Swami Ji says, "Do Satsang by being receptive!"

It does not matter if you do not under­stand the words, if you can be re­ceptive, for His radiance will give you some intoxication. That precious jewel of understanding, which you gain when you meet the Satguru, is priceless, invaluable; but it is not re­ceived at the level of the mind. The mind must be stilled for a while, and then you will get such love – love like a surging ocean – it will surge within you. Your whole being will be up­lifted by this overflowing love. After this, your mind can be stilled at will. O Lord, how can we leave the com­pany of such a Saint, by seeing whom the mind gets stilled? You can say it is a judging criterion for a Master, for you cannot get this gift in the company of intellectuals. The waves of Truth are ever–flowing through the true Satguru, and those waves affect the sincere seeker. Even though the disciple is thousands of miles away, the same effect can be received by directing the attention. If a radio can pick up transmissions from thous­ands of miles, why cannot our surat (attention) become affected?

So to achieve this jewel of knowl­edge, the Satguru is essential. One gets intoxication from a truly rea­lized soul just by focusing the attent­ion on the Guru, thereby becoming receptive. A man who is proud of his mental development and advanced intellect may see the Guru on an oc­casion, but he gains no effect from that. This is the difference in men. Remember, the mind is material – not conscious; furthermore it is be­smeared with the mud of ages past. A magnet can have no effect on dirty, mud-covered iron filings; but if they are clean and free from soil they easily respond to magnetism. The Master can be likened to a most powerful magnet, and our soul is of the same substance, but besmeared with the muddy experiences of the past. Remove the mud, and it will be naturally drawn to its source.

Put this to the test: sit beside a Ma­ster and put your mind altogether aside for while, and see how much bliss and intoxication you can receive. Love will then begin to grow and overflow in you, for God is love, and the soul is His entity – a drop of that Ocean of Love – although it is at present scattered widely in a thou­sand attractive outlets at the mind and sense level. Separated for a brief space from all this outer tinsel, and centred and concentrated, it will be dragged towards that love which gushes forth from the perennial source. This is an established law. We read the words of the Masters, the valuable gems they left behind, but we rarely understand their true meanings.

So He tells us:

Giving your mind to your Guru, you get the imperishable love; You receive the gift of salvation, which erases the dirt of all sins.

With right understanding, the mind is cured from the state of diffusion that it suffers from, by the soul–filled glance of the Master. Is it not said in the scriptures that salvation is gained through Naam or Word? What is that Naam? That is the Name or Word of God which sustains all creation. And when will you get this gift which erases all imperfections? When you sit beside a Master in a receptive mood. Even if you do not understand the language He is speaking, yet you will gain the benefit of radiation. If you also understand His words, so much the better. Guru Arjan Sahib says, "By coalescent darshan all sins are finished." Becoming fully ab­sorbed and in union with someone is different than merely seeing a per­son. It must be coalescence: the two hearts should become one, so that the soul is receptive. Christ said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches" – only the Masters can understand this sub­ject – "He that abideth in me, and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing." This is what is called Gurubhakti. If you are really devoted to someone, you will obey that person. Christ also said, If ye love me, keep my commandments. Wherever love is, a human being responds.

The Masters tell us that the right understanding is: you are not the body, I am not the body, you are a soul, I am a Soul; our Life Sustainer is God, and my soul is in unison with Him; by His mercy you will be re­joined to Him. The Godpower work­ing in the Guru guides the disciples constantly; so if you receive this gift, all your faults and imperfections will be erased. Our biggest fault is that our attention is scattered – dis­seminated among outer things; this is our basic problem. But when the mind starts tasting the higher nectar, why would he revert to lower enjoy­ments again?

Oh brother, without the Guru there is no knowledge; Ask Brahma, Narad, Ved Vyas.

In the Srimad Bhagavat it is written that when Brahma made the four Vedas, he became very sorrowful. Do you understand? Because read­ing, writing, learning and the acqui­sition of letters are not necessary for realization of the Truth. He says, Go ask Narad about this, and Suhkdev, son of Ved Vyas. This thing cannot be realized without a Guru. When the mind is stilled, one receives the radiating waves of the Guru which are already emanating from the hu­man pole of the Master, and have great charging. Those who are re­ceptive enjoy this charged waves, to the extent of each one's receptivity. The learned and the unlearned both can become receptive; but as long as the mind is not set aside, there is no spiritual advancement. He tells us to go and ask anyone in authority, and they will tell you that it cannot be achieved without a Guru.

Guru Nanak also says:

Without a Satguru, none had knowl­edge of the Divine, and none can have it!
Concentration upon the indescribable Sound Principle, the Nad, is the knowledge.

That Sound cannot be expressed in words, but is given various names: Udgit, Nad, Word, Naam. To experi­ence it is true knowledge. And the greatness of the Guru who makes this knowledge possible, Paltu Sahib says, "Whoever can make the Sound coming from the gaggan (seat of the soul in the body) audible, He is my Gurudev."

Whoever can make it pos­sible for one to hear the Sound at the gaggan, and connect one to it, is truly a Guru. He gives a little way up, and opens the path. That great Light which is God's leads one's attention away from the outer attract­ions. It is a small experience with God. My Guru gives me the Light of the Lord's Naam. In the Gayatri Mantra the same thing is mentioned: O Lord, take us to the Light of the rays of the sun within.

The Guru is likened to a huge shady tree, whose leaves are verdant, whose flowers are full of fragrance. Those who sit in its shade receive the coolness. Maulana Rumi says that our heart should sit beside one who knows its condition. He himself asks how that can happen, and replies that one should sit under the tree whose flowery fragrance permeates, and should not roam around the world aimlessly, but rather sit in the shop where honey is sold; for in the world many things are taught, in huge boiling pots, and one should not go there with one's cup without first giving thought. There is a lot of black marketing in the world, but more so where so–called spirituality is concerned. There was an occasion when Christ became very angry with the Pharisees for defiling the pre­cincts of the temple with their money-changing activities, and he drove them out. Bulleh Shah described this very clearly: In holy places live the cheats, in the temples live the thugs, in the mosques live the professionals, but true lovers live elsewhere. It illustrates the decline in man.

Religions are well and good, but they should have a proper teacher – a realized soul. Instead, one finds this poor soul who is earning money for his living this way. He must do this, or be cast out. Now, what can people get from such poor beings? All these social bodies were based upon a noble thought, but everything has gone down with corruption; they are not up to the mark now. They want offerings of money, flowers, etc., and then give their blessings, saying, "Go, child, your salvation is as­sured", giving some "holy food" to complete the transaction. The same good old custom has corrupted itself. The customs were made for the purpose of helping the people to gain freedom, but they have become binding chains in themselves. A man who belongs to a certain religion is afraid to visit another. This is the result of wrong teaching. Our Hazur, Baba Sawan Singh Ji, used to say, "This (the inner experience) is a gift given to you; go where you like, and if you find anything better than that, then take it, and I will also go there." We are devotees of the Truth, and should go wherever we can get it.

The fruit giving tree of the Guru is green, and its shade is deep;
In the Guru's bhandar, precious jewels are found.
The Guru's bhandar (treasure–house) is a place where one gets something invaluable; go and sit in that re­freshing shade.

After trudging long in the hot sun, a man gets re-enlivened for a while when he sits in the cool shade of a leafy tree. Sitting at the feet of a realized soul, one becomes more conscious of what is real and of the world's unreality. In the company of the Master, there is awareness of the Lord. In His com­pany, the Lord seems very near, and when one leaves that company one reverts to the same condition. This jewel of knowledge which is right understanding is found in the Guru's bhandar and is gained at His feet.

In the Guru s bhandar you get the pure love of Naam.
When the physical crumbles and death makes his claim, there is naught but misery and regret.

If this important work (of getting the connection with Naam) is not done in this life, the misery will increase with the physical form's decay, when you will go into the keeping of Yama, the lord of death. You will then bear the fruit of whatever you sowed during life, and so around and around the cycle you will continue. But if you rise above the senses and taste the sweet nectar of Naam, then your coming and going will cease. Living at the sense-level will keep you tied to the everlasting chain of births and death, no matter how many good karmas you accrue. The jewelled wealth is of the Beyond; it is separate from the senses, and so cannot be realized through them.

The Guru who keeps and can give this treasure is very rare. During the life of King Janak, only one could be found in the whole of India – namely Ashtavakra. Sukhdev Swami found only one also – King Janak. Of course, the more there are, so much the bet­ter for the world. It makes no differ­ence where a realized soul lives: in the jungles or in the towns.

When you meet a perfect Master with all attributes, salvation is gained while living, laughing, and wearing ordinary clothes. He will not advise you to leave home and household duties, but he will say that, out of twenty-four hours each day, set aside two or three hours for this holy purpose. This work must be done as well as the worldly duties, so earn your own living and stand on your own feet.

In olden days, those who renounced the world for the spiritual life never collected money for their sustenance, and they had no possessions. They ate whenever food was offered to them. But these days, this type of life has become a business, and they have started collecting not only goods but money, too. It is now something far different from the original pur­pose, and blind men are leading the blind. This is mainly why the name of the gurudom is scorned by the people at large, who are saying that reading the scriptures at home is better than going to a Guru.

"It's mine, its mine," they say, but they left without body, wealth, wife, or family.

The whole human race is engaged in possessing, but when each soul leaves, he takes nothing with him –neither possessions nor people – not even the body, which was his first worldly companion, will accompany him. He has frittered away his whole life's attention.

Without the Naam, all outer riches have no value, because they have forgotten the Path.

We are the indweller of the physical form, but have become identified with it, so much so that we have forgotten our selves. We see, not at the level of soul, but at the body's level. It is a very deep forgetfulness. Rich and poor, literate and illiterate, alike are all in the same state of illusion. The body is made of matter; the world is made of matter; and both are changing at the same rate. Being identified with it, we consider we are still and unchanging. The whole world is suffering from two kinds of illusion – jar-maya and chaitan-maya – coarse and subtle types of illusion. We rise out of the clutches of these when some Master-soul brings us above them and opens the spiritual eye and puts us on the Path. Without this, there is no difference in having outer knowledge and not having it; the spiritual ignorance remains.

Actually the man without intellectual learning will succeed more rapidly on the spiritual path, for if he is told "Go up," he will start without delay or question but the learned man will stand and ask, "Why? How many steps are there? What is at the top? I hope I will not slip and fall." This intellectual hesitancy will keep him where he is; he will never climb up. However, it is true that he who has learning and does not allow it to stand in the way, will be more valu­able than others (because he can explain the teaching); but such cases are rare. Outer knowledge is like a garland of flowers adorning a rea­lized person, who will explain the Truth in many ways. Such knowl­edge in an unrealized soul is like a burden on a donkey's head.

By serving the true Master, the Gurmukh will know the Unexpressed.

Become the one who serves Him in whom the ever-existent and im­perishable Lord is manifested: the Master. Who can know Him? Only a Gurmukh. And what is a Gurmukh? He who is one with the Guru. One fakir has said that the seekers of God have lost Him in the waves of the mind's ocean – in the thoughts of the intellect. Go and seek for some true Master, for the right understanding.

Coming and going around the wheel of life according to the karmas – How can what is written be erased? The law is the law.

What is written comes from the Be­yond – one must go through it. Those who have love for the world and its environment will return to it again and again. Good actions will bring them happiness and bad actions misery. Hell, heaven, again and again birth. By rising above the senses and experiencing inner knowl­edge, one can become neh karma (free from karmas). For such a per­son the perpetual wheel of life ceases to turn. The only reason for our continual return to the worldly life is our attachment to it. When we love God a little, it is usually for some worldly gain, and not to realize Him for His own sake. When the God-realized person gives the right understanding, He teaches the true values of life, and how to make the best use of everything.

Without Gods Name there is no freedom, but the Guru s knowledge gives the connection.

We cannot realize this Name or Naam by ourselves, for whatever practices we do are at the sense–level. We must depend on the knowledge of the Guru, for life comes from life, and light is lit from light.

Without Him I have no one; He is my life and breath.

He is speaking from experience, for he has seen that everything is sus­tained by the Lord. Being outwardly scattered, we cannot experience that. The Masters do not speak of them­selves, but their words come from the Lord directly; for they are in constant and direct contact with Him. They are joined to the Lord. One fakir ex­plains that whatever the Masters say, the Lord Himself is saying, although the words may seem to come from a human throat.

All are consumed in ego, attachment, greed, and pride;
O Nanak, meditate upon the Shabd and realize the supreme unity.

Shabd is the same as Naam. God is Ashabd, but His expression is Shabd. Creation and dissolution come through the Shabd; through the Shabd comes re-creation. It is the Power behind all creation and dissolution. There are two kinds of this Shabd, Naam, or Word: one is outer, at the level of the mind and intellect, and one is above these. The latter is the one received by the grace of the Guru. Get the connection to that Shabd, and meditate upon it. The result will be that you will gain a wealth of knowledge, you will gain the greatest of achievements: to know the Music of the Spheres.

This was a hymn of Guru Nanak Sahib, who has very openly tried to teach us the way of right under­standing and its incalculable value. Now Dhani Dharam Das Ji, who succeeded Kabir, says:

O Lord, where have You placed me?
That unchangeable place is where the hansa lives, and this is but the play of the negative.

It is a protest to the Lord. "I am a con­scious entity, a soul, and my place is Sat Lok, I am a dweller of the true Home, and yet where am I now?" That unchangeable place is where the hansa live – those who can dif­ferentiate Truth from untruth. How have I become trapped in this nega­tive illusion?" O loved one (soul), your place was one of all conscious­ness, but you have tied yourself in the matter. Man, there was no matter in your home, for you were the dwel­ler of the pure place; and yet here you are imprisoned in the mud and water. One hundred wise men will have but the same thought. Guru Nanak says, You are residing in the imperishable true Home, and I am lost in the perishable matter. So learn to die so that you may begin to live. If you yearn for everlasting life, then learn to die before death. To learn how to leave the body while living has been the teaching of all Masters.

The imperishable Nectar sustains, in the country of the Sat Purush (the True Being).

The place is beyond the circle of kal and maha kal (the forces of the nega­tive and greater negative powers) where dissolution and grand disso­lution do not reach. His name is Sat–guru, who knows the Sat Purush, in whose company the disciple gains salvation; O Nanak, sing praises of God. Also, When the Satguru is met, the eye sees. The Master will make the soul reach to the same stage as Himself. He who has become one with the Sat Purush will take the seeking souls there also. He who has passed only the intermediate school cannot teach the B. A. class. He who has transcended Pind (the physical world) is no doubt due to some respect, but we should see how far beyond Pind he has gone.

Dharam Das pleads with folded hands:

0  Lord, take me to Your country,
I cannot hear this noose of the lord of death;
Use any means, but keep Your attention on me.

The world is a place of birth and death – "Take me to my true Home, O Satguru, it is in Your hands alone." That Godpower, the Truth, is work­ing in the human pole of the Satguru. It also works in us all but has not manifested itself in all men. Wealth, attachment, all are illusion – all a play of kal. Due to the never-ending disseminations of thought, the world is lost in forgetfulness. Wherever your attention is, so there you will be also, and that is why again and again you must come to the world. The Guru reveals the hole where the secret is hidden; by closing the doors, the Anhad  (Unstruck Sound) is heard. When you come to know the Anhad, it means you have succeeded in your mission. This will be only when you have fully and completely withdrawn from all outer attractions, and have risen above the mind and the senses.

Cut illusion, attachment, and give me Nirvana,
That everlasting place of the hans, which only a few will reach;

Dharam Das pleads with folded hands, to realize his aim and release him from this wheel.

O Lord, bless me with that stage beyond the three attributes. This wealth and attachment is dragging me here, again and again. Take me out of it all, and put me in the place which is ever–existent and perma­nent, where very few reach – only those like the hans, those who can differentiate the Truth from untruth.

It is his plea to the Satguru's mercy.

This is the teaching of the Masters – the people who have realized the true knowledge. Live wherever you wish; live in your own religion; but make your life good, pure, and righteous.