Person vs. Body

Person vs. Body

How strange it is that as soon as someone dies, their identity becomes a “body”.

We suddenly stop using the name and start calling him or her as a ‘body’. We start using phrases like “where is the body? Have you seen the body, or bring the body here etc.”

We may not even notice it, but deep inside our subconscious mind, we know that the person whom we called Ram, Sham, John, Smith or Mary has gone and now what is lying in front of us is just the body. So we don’t call it by the name anymore.

The body is still here but where is that person we knew? What happened to the soul? Where has it gone? Since time immemorial, sages, Rishis and philosophers have been trying to understand this phenomenon.

The great saint / Guru Kabeer Ji said :

“is man kau koi khojahu bhaayi

Tan Chhooty Man kahaan Samaayi?”

“search for this ‘Mind’ (soul), o’ people.

When it escapes from the body, where does it go?”

The human body is made of five basic elements of the nature: Dharti, Agni, Jal, Vaayu aur Aakaash

(Fire, earth, water, air and sound or space).

All rites / rituals for the dead in all cultures are meant to systematically return all these elements back to the nature. 

“Sooraj kiran mili, Jal ka jal huaa Raam

Jyoti jot rali sampooran theeaa kaam.”

If all the elements go back to their source, and the individual soul also merges into Supreme soul, then the cycle is considered ‘Sampoorna or complete’.

संवारना तो अलग है Sanvaarna to Alag hai (In Hindi)

Sanvaarna to Alag hai (In Roman Script)

No act of kindness is ever lost.

No act of kindness is ever lost.   

Sooner or later, every action, good or bad, kind or cruel, brings it reaction. Some seeds grow faster and start bearing fruits in a short period of time while others grow slowly and may take much longer. Similarly, some karmas (actions) may bring their results immediately, while we may not see the outcome of others for decades or even few life times.

  Should we stop doing the acts of kindness if we don’t see the results immediately?

A 92 years old man was planting a tree in his front yard. A young boy asked what he was doing. The old man said he was planting a mango tree. The boy laughed and said “You know! It would be many years before this tree can grow and bear some fruits. You are so old. Your one foot is already in the grave. Do you really think that you will live to see it grow and eat its fruits?“

The old man replied “It doesn’t matter if I would be around to see it grow or not. People before me had planted many trees and I ate their fruits when I was a child. Now I am not planting it for myself. My children and grand children and the children and grand children of my neighbors will eat its fruits. People from the neighborhood will be able to sit under its shade and children would enjoy playing underneath this tree. I am simply doing what was done by the people before me.”

Let’s keep on doing whatever act of kindness we may be able to do.

Even if we would not be able to see the results or reap their fruits, someone else will.

Listening to the elders

                                  Listening to the elders

Listening to our elders is very important. In fact this is one of the most important things we can do.

Learning from their experiences can be very rewarding. It may save us a lot of time too. Just by sitting with them, we can get all that knowledge they learned in the long journey of their lives.

I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to serve and be with some of the great saints such as Bhapa Ram Chand ji Kapurthala, Bai Sahib Amar Singh ji Patiala, Giani Joginder Singh ji and Bhagat Ram ji Barnala. Just by traveling with and talking to these great saints including Rishi Vyas dev ji, I learned so many things about spirituality and the holy books that would require decades to understand on my own. Unfortunately, now a days the youth or even adults do not seem to be interested in learning the old ways. Spirituality is not just about being a member or an important part of an organization. Spirituality is individual and, in my opinion, can only be learned and understood by being in the company of enlightened ones. In fact, it is not taught but transferred from one soul to another. So it is important that we spend time with our elders and learn from them. As the elders are getting old and soon will be gone from this physical world, it is the responsibility of the youth to learn our spiritual heritage so that they may pass it on to the next generation also.

Recharging the spiritual battery

             Recharging the spiritual battery

Every now and then, we all need to recharge our spiritual batteries.

While living in the materialistic world and constantly interacting with it, especially when we face the adverse situations, the light of Gyana in our consciousness becomes dim. The clouds of doubts begin to form in our minds and our thoughts become fuzzy.  A storm of uncertainty begins to shake our faith.

The current visit of Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh ji in the USA and Canada is a time of re-vitalizing, re-energizing and recharging our spirituality. Everyone seems to be so happy and re-energized after having the Darshan and receiving blessings from the Sadguru.

It is wonderful to see how everyone seems so excited and happy to be around their beloved Sadguru and Pujya Mata ji. The youth and the members of Sevadal are so energized that they are constantly and tirelessly working round the clock.
 

However, it is important that we do not lose this re-energized and peaceful state of mind when we go back to our daily routines. It is important that we keep the light of Gyana lit all the time in our consciousness and the faith in Sadguru rooted deep in the sub-conscious.

May Lord bless us all.

The Cookie Thief

We like to think we know everything and that we are always right.

 Many a times, we misunderstand and misjudge people around us. 
We quickly jump to conclusions and wrongly accuse them of bad intentions.
Though, at times, it's possible that we may be wrong, and more than often, when 
we realize it, it's too late to even apologize.
We should, therefore, not hurry up in passing our judgment on people. 
Many years ago, in 1999, someone forwarded a wonderful heart touching poem to me 
which is a perfect example of this.

                           The Cookie-Thief
                                                 (By Valerie Cox )

A women was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport store,
bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book , but happened to see,
That the man beside her , as bold as could be ,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,
Which she tried to ignore , to avoid a scene.

She read , munched cookies , and watched the clock,
As the gutsy "cookie thief" diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking ," if i wasn't so nice, I've blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took , he took one too.
When only one was left , she wondered what he'd do.
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half , and ate the other.
She snatched it from him and thought," Oh brother,
This guy has some nerve, and he's also rude,
Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she had been so galled,
and sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,
Refusing to look back at the "Thieving Ingrate"

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Then sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise.
There was her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair,
"Then the other were his and he tried to share!"
Too late to apologize , she realized with grief
That she was the rude one , the ingrate, the thief.