BIRTHDAY OF GURU AMAR DAS JI NOTE: This is the birthday gurdwara where the Siri Singh Sahib started a tradition of "bring a dish, make a wish." So every year in Los Angeles on Guru Amar Das' birthday the sangat has the opportunity to make a dish of food (husbands have to make their own dishes! They can't have their wives make it for them) and as you present your dish to the Guru, you can make a wish -- which it is said will be granted.) WAHE GURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHE GURU JI KI FATEH! We are very religiously having a gurdwara. It means we enter the door of the Guru. There is a possibility that we may have entered physically but not mentally. There is a possibility that we have entered physically and mentally and not spiritually. There is a possibility that we have entered physically, mentally and spiritually for this time being. Each time when we come to the Gurdwara, we understand Sikh Dharma. In all religions, eight major religions and about 14-15 other religions, it is a temple, it is a synagogue, it is a church, it is a body of the Christ, it is a place for worship and there are different names we give to everything. Among our Dharma, the Golden Temple is called "Harimandir," the temple of God... creative God. But normally in essentialness, we call 'gurdwara.' It used to be 'dharamsala,' where Dharma was taught. Always known in the early times, 'dharamsala,' then from that onward it changed to the word called 'gurdwara.' Why we do not call it 'Guru mandir?' Why we do not call it anything else? Because it was looked into with the essential faculty of quality of intelligence to the extent of the permanent essence to understand God in action. Gate. Guru's gate. Either you are in or you are out! There is no space in between. The directness between the Guru and the Sikh was realized, so the faculty of training, the faculty of worshipping, the faculty of understanding God was left to it's own reality. The understanding was, let us practice a meditative attitude of physical, biological, psychological, sociological, and personal attitude. Let us get in the gate. Let us walk into the gate. And then feel there is a home, there is a house, there is a self. The dignity of the purity and the nobility of service are two essential features of Sikh Dharma. People are afraid of death because they do not know where to go. People are afraid of relationships; they do not know how to nurture it. People are afraid of psychological, biological confrontations because they are insecure. They know God is everywhere. They know the word of Guru is with you. They know you have a bank balance. You know you have a home, you know you have a credit card. I believe you have everything except one thing: you have no trust in yourself and no trust in Guru and you have no trust in God. When three trusts are minus, your everything else does not even form a trust. Everything comes three: self, Guru and God. You know it there is a God everywhere. You know there is a Guru everywhere. And you also know that you are everywhere. Your quality I can understand. You are like a fish in the ocean, and in this quality in the ocean you want to know the ocean. Fish has the right to know the ocean because it lives out of water, it is a part of the water. Fish has the faculty for the longing of the water. Siri Guru Granth says if you take a fish out of water it dies... dies... dies most painfully. The longing for the water is so much. It jumps, it asks for it. And it's death is very painful, even to the eye which looks. Until we are really crazy we can see a fish on the hook and can imagine how painful it is for the fish to die. And then you take it out, you clean it, you chop it up, you chew, you eat it. It does not leave the relationship with water. if you eat fish you shall be thirsty. If you cannot at night get up and take water, it will reverse the biological system and ask water depositing tissue of the colon to reverse it. Nothing else has this power except fish. So it's relationship with water is an infinite relationship. But it cannot know the height, strength, depth, shores of the ocean. So every fish makes it's own little ocean. Every fish lives in the real ocean but makes it's own ocean. Exactly so, human lives in God. "In God I Dwell," but it makes it's own God. If Allah has told you something and Jehovah has not -- if Wahe Guru has told you and Ram has not -- if Sattva Buddha has told you and Praan Shakti Maha Atma Param Paramatma has not, there's a conflict. Conflict is not between God and God (because there is a One God), conflict is not between man and man (because there is a one man, there's a one light of which we are all born.) Conflict is between security and insecurity. There are two riches in the world. Those who are rich, rich, rich, and they earn, and those who have rich, rich, rich, they have learned to not be a part of. There is a "bhag" and there is a "tiaag". Tiaag is not unattachment, no. Tiaag is when you earn something... you are not attached to it, but you share, you give, you give away. That's tiaag. Denunciation. But there cannot be denunciation if there's not enunciation. The power of earning knowledge, having knowledge, knowing truth is not enough until it is not applied and experienced. Nothing becomes yours. Wisdom you may have, as much wisdom you want, but if you do not have APPLIED WISDOM, you will always be miserable. So in life you set limits and Guru Nanak does not agree with limits. Whenever love has a territory...whenever love has a definition.. whenever love has any situation in which it cannot be other than Infinity, there shall be no understanding between the lovers and the beloved which shall not be painful. Because you are committing the biggest sin on the planet. You are trying to take the Infinity and make it finite. You are taking the elephant and you take a drawer out of you cabinet and you want to put the elephant into the drawer. How can that be possible? How can a fish which lives in water, makes its own small little circle and ocean, say: 'this is my limit?' When you say, "This is my limit on compassion, this is my limit of passion, I cannot take it any more, I cannot go beyond that.", that is the moment you have incurred a sin. That is where you have denied God. That is where you have denied Guru. That is where you have forgotten the God is. Naaraayan, Sad Sad Bakhshind The Lord is ever, ever the Forgiver. --Guru Arjan Dev That is where you have found out the God doesn't forgive. That is what you have found and you have expressed your debauchery of your incompetency and you have shown absolutely your limit, your poverty as a human being. You mentally go bankrupt so you can go to a psychiatrist. You can physically go bankrupt, you will be under chapter 7 or 11, God knows, whatever. But when you go spiritually bankrupt, then where you will go? You are the product of the spirit. You are part of the Infinite God and in you is the finite, defined soul, spirit. You cannot do this to yourself. When you say, "I cannot take it," you are not saying, "I cannot take it." You are saying, "I cannot GIVE it. I cannot give it a chance... Therefore, I cannot take it." Whenever you say, "That's it. That's the end of me," you have denied God, you have denied the Thou. You have denied the factual fact that God is everywhere. And when you have no relationship with God... then who you are relative of, who you are related to? You cannot trust the One who is everywhere??? How you can trust those who are somewhere? And how can you even relate to those who are nowhere? So you have created a class, a mental class of spiritual limit, whereas soul is unlimited, man is unlimited, God is unlimited, planet earth has given you the visitation right. It never gave you ownership. It was a place to come, love, pay off the karma, learn the dharma, leave the parma (doubts), and go happy, dancing, "Hi, Hallelujiah, how are you my Jehovah, how are you, my Ram, how are you my Krishna, how are you my God?" Here we fight. Allah fights with Allah. And these days Jehovah is fighting with Allah. And Protestant God is fighting with Catholic God. Christ is fighting with Christ and perhaps Guru Nanak is fighting with another Guru Nanak. Man is fighting with man and Prakirti is fighting with the Purkha. Creation is fighting with the Creator. And the question is, who is who? Student is fighting with the teacher. Teacher is fighting with the knowledge. Knowledge is fighting with the compassion. Compassion has left kindness. Man has left manners, grace, nobility. We have become garbage grabbers. We insult God moment we open our eyes. We open our physical eyes but not the eye which sees the everything. The conscious eye which tells me, which tells me I am a part of Infinite, which tells the Infinity I am part of Thou. We always see with these eyes which cannot even read. After forty you wear glasses, after seventy you are almost dead blind. These nine doors, "Nao dar vaaje pargat keete dasava gupat dakaiaa." Nine doors are in appearance. Tenth is the secret door. The door of consciousness. There is always the idea when you see that between these two eyes there is a third eye open, or it is closed. The idea is to see the unseen. The intuitive eye. Man without intuitive eye is dead blind. Man without the intuitive ear is dead deaf. Man without the intuitive tongue is a dead dumb. And man absolutely without its own sacred Infinity in its subtlty cannot have the fragrance of all creativity. Creativity has its own fragrance. We are afraid of hardships. Tell me one great man and his history which has not gone through the challenges of the time. Tell me one man who has not been put on the cross. Tell me one man who couldn't sit on the hot plate. These are men who are qualified to be known to create miracles. They not only controlled the mind of their own, they could also serve. But why they went through that pain? Because their mind was painless. Their soul was bright, their body was temporarily not willing to accept torture. It could immune itself from the torture. Normally when you are in a terrible pain, you take Tylenol or asprin or something, you don't feel pain. You think the pain is gone? That's not true. Only in the brain, that alertness which tells you the body is in pain, the alertness which tells you the body is in torture, the alertness which tells you body cannot go one step further. But you don't want to stop. You don't go by the natural way that is you are in terrible pain, you don't have the guts to take a very heavy cold shower! Then the entire tiredness goes away in seconds. Or you do not go in a hot tub. A relaxation can happen and things will change. You don't want to do that. You want to continue. So you take a tablet and you cut out that signal, that sensitivity and you become immune from the sensitivity. And you allow your immune system to fight that terrible thing which body is telling, "I can't go. Please leave me alone. I am here." And your irrational situation goes on, goes on, goes on, until there's nothing to go on to. Similarily your mind comes of the realms of kindness and compassion. You use mind with kind words and compassionate ways to struggle people to death, to suffocate people, to exploit people. You hurt people because when you betray somebody in trust, whether it's right or wrong, you are hurting your consciousness at the same time. But with commotional satisfaction and with emotional attitude, you keep going. Where you will go? Every person knows that all he can reach for is a grave, which either he can dig it or somebody can dig for him. If you dig your own grave, you've got to lay in it. And that is called "karma." Action. All those who will have parma (doubt) shall live the life of karma! They will dig their own grave, they will lay in it, and some of their relatives for taking little estate out of them and all put a little stone, "Mr. John D. Smith," "Mr. Hari Singh," "Mr. This and This." That's the end of it. A memory comes down to ashes. Do you believe that as a human being your fifty years on the earth comes to a bunch of ash? Just dirt to dirt? In fifty years you couldn't perform an act which fragrance couldn't be forever? This incense, this agarbatti, this little stick you burn, it fills up the room with smell. Little light of soul, the light, it doesn't fill up even the city? Because you are totally worried for your yesterday, you are insecure for your tomorrow and you live in the doubt today. Now question is, this all is true... What's the answer? What is the answer?? Answer is: TRUST GOD, before you! That is what is meant by "Ik Ong Kar." One, must come ahead of me. One, must come ahead of me. And One must come ahead of me. That means very simple, "A love style in which mission is preferred over emotions." Emotions can be tackled because emotion has a reasonable logic in it. Commotions have no logic and next step of the wise person who has the right to vote and change make the fate of America, is neurotic. 80% Americans live in United States, and every third man is a lunatic by national statistics. And only 15% feel that they are happy. Just 5% feel that they have achieved something. Look at this joke! Hooray, the very fact that you are alive is an achievement itself. Give it a touch of God and there shall be nothing but grace and success. There is a candle. Just put the match stick to it. Let it be lit... All darkness will go. You think this kind of religion that you have to tie your legs up and head down, hard discipline will control the mind...no, my dear. Hard discipline will not control, and soft discipline will not serve either. Mind has to come to a balance to decide a fact of life. A relationship has to be established between a man and his mind. A friendship has to be decided. A... categorically... a dialogue has to be established between a man and his mind, and judgement should be left, in case of dispute, to the soul... to Infinity. It's a simple religion. You can call it, "Bhajanism," you can call it, "Knowism," you can call it any -ism. It's a simple thing. It's a recited fact which will sing forever. It's a song divine, it's a gospel truth. This is the ONLY religion of tomorrow! All other men shall suffer! And that is, that in all cases, man by his nature, by his reality, by his faculty, by all his facets of life, has to relate in relationship to one's mind, first. Ik Ong Kar. And, all creativity of the mind with the faculty of the situation, when a dispute takes place, it should be left to the Infinity of the soul. When there is a "May I, May I not?" see to which direction Infinity directs. Go for it. You shall never be poor, you shall never be in trouble, and you shall never be unhappy. Physical body will get sick and unhealthy, mind will freak out and slip here and there... It's more powerful than space and time. And soul will sometimes will not give the light of the courage, (because it's dormant). Then what should one do? One HAS to build a sadhana, an attitude. Longitude and latitude divides the world into portions. You must have longing to have God first. You must give latitude to insecurity to let it go. You have to be honest for a change! You may be few people sitting here and you may be listening to me and you may not understand what I am saying, and you may not do it, either... That's possible. There are 225 million people in whole United States. There are 4.5 to 5 billion people in the world. You may practice five billion sides of all. The easiest, the most practical and most fascinating way is simple but Guru Nanak said it in two words: Ik Ong Kar, Sat Gurprasad. That One must come before the creativity of God in relationship to the creation. There are two words, Ong and Kar. Before them must come "Ik"... "One," in the creative relationship to the creativity of the universe, the earth. When you deal for yourself, deal it any way you want it. But if it involves anybody else, then it must be with the judgement of the divinity within you. Not the wisdom in you... Not the knowledge in you... Not the power in you... No! Your strength, your wisdom, your diplomacy, your cunningess, your straight forwardness, your truth and your lies have nothing to decide. They are for you... That's your concept. But when anybody else is involved, then your divinity should decide, in the realm of your nobility, so that you can give grace to others. WHEN YOU GIVE GRACE TO OTHERS, GOD SHALL GIVE YOU GRACE: Gur Prasaad. That's what Gur Prasaad is-- when God is bound down by the law of It's own Infinity to give grace. Jis nu bakshe sifat salaah, Nanak paatishaaee paatishaah. That man should be graceful king of the graceful kings. It's a song of Infinity. Japji says few things... Jis hath jor kar vekhe soeh One who thinks in his hand is the power, let him try. Naanak utham neech na koeh. Nanak, God is highest of all, and there is nobody below Him... Because in the ocean, fish is contained in the water and water is the life source of the fish. God is contained in the man... Man is the life source of God. So please understand Sikh Dharma in it's very dismal situation. It's a religion of reality, of subtleness and sophisticatedness. It is a religion of the Rishis. I am not putting down other religions. I am not putting down the county road which is not paved. I also do not have any misunderstanding on the trails. Relgion has developed through trails, through mud roads, and through freeways and boulevards and streets. It has come now to the highways. And it has come to the skyways. It has come to the space ways. Religion has reached its zenith. Man has reached his tragedy. Religion offers a technology. Man doesn't have a time. I went to see a doctor that day and I saw the nurse and I looked at her. She said, "I am very apologetic." I said, "What happened? I couldn't recognize you." She said, "I used to have very long hair." And now she has very short hair. And I said, "You were very lucky you had a very long hair." She said, "My God, you do not know! My husband is mad with me. Perhaps it will break our marriage." And I said, "Your husband is mad at you, you love your hair, you were very fine, it was beautiful God- given gift. Why you got rid of that?" She said, "I couldn't take care of it." If you can't take care of your mind, should you cut it? If you cannot take care of your soul, throw it away? If you cannot take care of your body, do Hari Kari?... whatever that is? Do something, for God's sake! It is not that I am fanatic. It is not that I am insecure and I am upset. I know I am travelling my last mile. I am aware of it. Give me credit. And also I am not upset. I know where I have come from and I know where I have to go. And with you and me there is a relationship and you can ask the question which somebody asked, and the person who asked this question is Bhai Jiwan Singh. Nobody less than that. He said, "How come in one minute you take a man and put him to the Guru, and after 15 years or 18 years or 12 years, after doing the Dharma, practising themselves, rising to the point of a Mukhia Singh Sahib, people leave?" And I said, "It is very simple. My job is to bring the horse to the water. It's not my job to take a syringe and pump it in his stomach." He said, "Why not? You are a yogi." I said, "I leave the man to his dignity, nobility and grace, that each born of a woman must realize God by his own grace." Nobody can be more fortunate than to share the experience that -- One God lives within me. Each one of you are here, those who talk ill of others, those who mercilessly insult others, those who make mockery and scandals of others, I'm asking you. You... those who deny others, painfully. Those who are insecure to give others even a helping hand, if not even a smile. I'm asking YOU... Has God left the planet earth? Is the God not Infinite? Is it that you have not understood Gurprasaad? It is the highest prayer and the extreme powerful realization. I had a very funny idea... Somebody called me that day and said, "I am miserable." I said, "Well, what are you miserable about?" "I never get to see you." I said, "Have you tried?" "No, I can't see you." I said, "There must be a picture around somewhere... look at it. That will do." The person said, "No, no, no. I, me, personally!" I said, "Yes, personally. Is there that picture around?" Person said, "Yeah, it's all around me." I said, "Then, what is the idea?" "But I want to see you in physical body." I said, "That's very easy." Person said, "Right now?" I said, "Right now. Close your eyes and perceive me and receive me in the perception and conception and projection of you." It was more blissful than ever shaking hands with me. And the person said, "How it is possible NOW?" I said, "You have never tried!" The conception of life is in perception, reception and projection of totality which is the Infinity into the practical style of life. That's why Sikh Dharma is a simple religion of the platinum age. It is the Akal Takhat, the Undying Throne of royalty and sovereignty. It is the throne of living Infinity. That's what we celebrate. And it is the third Guru, Amar Das, the Infinite Servant who was liberated. His destiny was given like Amar Das. He will serve the Infinity because he was the Infinity. He used to go to do the pilgrimage... good deeds, nice, very nice... thorough gentleman... absolutely righteous... beautiful, very fatherly... sophisticated. One day he invited a sadhu to come to his house. He fed him, gave him everything, and the sadhu, after eating and having everything, he said, "My dear, your name is Amar Das?" He said, "Yes, my name is Amar Das." The sadhu said, "You seem to be a very noble and religious man." He said, "It's God's grace." The sadhu said "I have eaten, I am happy, I have to do prayer. Your name is Amar Das. What is the name of your Guru?" He said, "What Guru? I only know God." The sadhu said, "You dirty fellow. You brought me, you gave me food, you served me. You don't have a Guru?" Amar Das said, "No." The sadhu said, "Then you have nothing." Amar Das said, "Why?" The sadhu said, "Where there's no altar, there's always an alternative. And if the altar is not supreme the life is sacrifice on the altar of duality." There are two altars, my dear folks. Altar of reality and altar of duality. Both are altars. Those who secure the earth, let heavens go by them. Those who secure the heavens, earth serves them. Domain of the Guru is heavens and earth in balance in creativity. So Amar Das asked the sadhu, "Can I be forgiven?" Sadhu said, "No, no, no. It is all right. I'm sorry. I will not do the prayer... Nirgur... You don't have a Guru. Who are you?" Amar Das said, "I worship God, I visit holy places." Sadhu said, "That's all fine." Amar Das said, "But I want to understand what is the problem?" Sadhu said, "You do not have a degree. You are the one who started in the college and will die in the college. You will never be there to sit in exam." Amar Das said, "Why not?" Sadhu said, "Somebody has to examine you. Somebody has to question you." There must be one thing which should be above you. It is you and within you. The capacity that if you want to be Infinite, you should also be in the capacity to become 'shuniaa'. Between the one and zero you must understand the reality of life. In the simple sense, people who shall follow you will understand it this way. When the magnificent attitude of the totality of reality into the magnetic attitude of the wavelength will create layers and lasers, its lasers to act and affect the creativity of the human brain into the reality of its own existence, man shall understand that his nobility lies in his infinity to say 'no!', and say 'no, never!' That positive attribute of a human mental creativity will create a spark of light to which the Infinite rainbow of Godliness of Divinity shall come, kiss, bow and surrender and give it a grace. There's no other way! Neither there was, nor there is, nor there shall be." Guru Amar Das, poor thing, got up. Started searching. Heard the word of Gurbani. Went to Guru Angad, which was the limb of Nanak. And went there, with a silken shirt... with a beautiful silken bana, regal. Came from a well to do family, had a well to do social life, had a good economic life. And the Guru said, "Hoo, you have come to see me! I needed a help. Take that other bundle of fodder and let us go home, talking." Naturally the water and mud was coming out of that whole thing and it all fell on that silken suit. Came home and sat down and there was a respectful relationship for him. And question was asked to Guru Angad, "Why we did this to him? Why the consideration to silken suit was not paid?" And Guru Angad laughed. He said, "It's true!... his suit was silken and it was visible. I have good eyesight. But something else was to be purified. Ego was to be purified." Question is not to challenge the man. Question is to challenge the ego of the man. And if a man has no technology to bring ego to zero, man has no reality to find the One. Please remember this: If man cannot bring his ego to zero, man has no power to find the One. And between zero and one is the ten. Put it wrong way, it's total minus. It's chaotic. It's a chaos. It's unhappiness, it's insecurity, nothing! It doesn't mean anything. If you put zero first, one later, forget it! It means nothing. But if you take one first and put zero with it, it is ten. That is what Bhale Amar Das gun tere Tere upamaa toeh ban aavai Sublime are your virtues, Oh Guru Amar Das Ji Your praises are worthy only of you. --SGGS, pg. 1396 Oh Guru Amar Das, your grace only belongs to you. Why? Because he, in his age, served. Can you imagine? Man from a great family with all his means, comes to serve his Guru, goes early in the morning, 12 miles to the River Beas, brings the river water to bathe the Guru. Is there anybody among you who has even the capacity to do it one day? No, you don't! Because you do not have the capacity nor the infinity or the grace of the service. If you prayed today, you brought a wish today, it all shall be granted. But if it doesn't get granted, you all will be mad. That's how quick you are. Guru Amar Das 12 YEARS went! Each year he was given one turban which he tied over the other turban. One day after 12 years, day came... It was a storm. It was a very unhappy moment of weather. But Guru Amar Das had the mature, steady, steady saddhu -- man of sadhana -- who had zeroed his pain. Zero is very powerful. He zeroed his pain. He zeroed the fear of storm. He zeroed the power of the river. He zeroed his old age and went twelve miles into oneness of motive, project, process and he took his 'gagar' (pitcher), he went to the river. He brought the water. While coming, he just missed the path and fell into the ditch of the river. Because when he used to go he used to do Jap Mantra, which is the strongest way of mantra, than all. That when your foot touches the earth, the sole touches the earth, soul under foot is called sole. When your sole touches the earth, you utter the Guru Mantra. And Guru Amar Das used to do that and everybody knew he is going and coming. When he leaves he used to chant the mantra on each step. When he used to come he used to chant mantra on each step. Guru came in. He fell in the ditch. But in that struggle, he did not let the water fall. And this weaver and his wife woke up. They didn't come out. And the weaver said, "Who's there?" His wife said, "Sleep. It is that Amaru naa thaavaa who has come to the house of the relatives. He has no shame, no sense. His daughter is married to this guy in the house. He is living with those people. He has left his wealth and everything and he comes and does the service." They were relatives. 'Amaru Naa Thaavaa' means: Amaru who has no place. Amar Das got up with that pitcher on his head, came back to the Guru's place, and started preparing that Guru will come and he will bathe the Guru. Guru Angad arrived and said, "Amar Das, today you sit on that choki, where I used to sit and take bath for last 12 years, and today I'll bathe you." He said, "My master, I am your slave. I just fell today, but water is okay. I didn't do anything wrong." Guru Angad said, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Today you have done right for the entire universe. Service will open the path to urge. I urge you to sit and merge in me." There was a power of meditation. He zeroed his mind. He obeyed. He sat on that choki. Sikhs started unwinding the turbans... turban after turban. And they said, "Lord, the condition of the scalp is not good." Guru said, "Don't worry. Put the water." Moment that water touched that body, there was a radiant shine of thousands of suns. It blinded everybody who was there! The touch of miracle happened when Guru Amar Das was decorated by Guru Angad himself. I know in your shabby mind you can't believe. If there are pimples, 12 years old, they can cure. A little medicine can cure, miracle can't? Miracle is worse than medicine? You little rats! You always think you know all better because your brain is just little. You have so tiny brain! Rat has a bigger brain than you guys. Sometimes you cannot understand. You think miracles are just a facade, being talked and told just to convince people to believe. That's not true! Your shallowness of the soul shows up in your auras. It's a tragedy... human tragedy that you can lie, your auras can't. So when the touch of that water enlightened the universe, a miracle happened. And the same Guru, which used to be bathed, same Guru which was served by the servant, this homeless, this meritless, was enshrined on the same choki and was bathed and decorated and dressed. And then Guru Angad said, "Amar Das, you are home of the homeless, you are honor of the honorless." He bestowed on him all virtues. And the highest virtue is if you read the bani of Guru Amar Das, you will understand how nearness, oneness, and totality of God is in his grasp. It is not that the wealth and the power of the earth is in your grasp which makes you a great man. No! You'll be a part of a great history of the earth. You have nothing to do with heavens. But if the grasp of Infinity, it is your totality and your mind, can be zeroed and brought before the One, and One is placed before your zeroed ego, you will learn the Infinity of ten, and the totality of eleven, which is the only one non-changing number. One plus one makes two. One divided by one has nothing to do. But when one sits with One, it makes the eleven. That is the only way to understand Siri Guru Granth. "Paragat gura(n) kee de". Paragat means: creative, known, understood. It is living. It is the body of the living Guru. Through the word it tells you that to rationalize yourself into the character of the creative Infinity is possible through the control of your own relationship, with your own mind. Everybody is seeking a relationship these days. "I want to relate. I want a relationship. I'm lonely. I can't do this. I can't..." Sometimes I wonder, what happened? The mind has gone for a shopping? And the soul has gone on a vacation? Don't you understand that the only thing you are born here on the planet earth for is to create a relationship with your own mind and your own soul? And the highest yoga is to bring your ego to 'shuniaa', zero. Partaahaar. Pranayam. Expand to the compassion of the kindness to Infinity. Be so kind that even your arch-enemy may feel the pain of the totality and may understand the weight of your personality and see the light of your reality. Your friends may forget you but your enemy even will wake up in the middle of the night remembering you. They may feel you... because as fragrance does not have any boundaries, subtle body does not obey any boundary. It is the subtleness of your behavior and kindness which in the grace of his age and maturity, Guru Ram Das represents to us and to all of us. And THAT'S why we visit Gurdwaras. These days it is getting out of fashion to come to Gurdwara. People start going to heights. People start going for other jobs, when they can come and pay their respects to the Guru. I have seen people walk away from the House of the Guru, thinking it is just another house! No! IT IS WHERE THE INFINITY AND DESTINY FOR THE MAN WHO BELONGS TO THIS HOUSE LIVES! Each brick of this house commands reverence and demands respect because it has your identity in it... the walls of this place. It is just one place. They say every mother is divine and beautiful and wonderful, but my mother is supremely lovely. What is this House of Guru Ram Das? Guru Ram Das Ashram? It is where our prosperity... it is where our tomorrow... it is where our comfort lives forever. It is an infinite storehouse because it has concentrated vibrations to purify our shadows, our darknesses and our limits. It gives us the unlimited acknowledgement of our relationship with God. That's why all those people....I'll beg of those people. I'm not trying today to say something, because these days it is very difficult. Those idiots, lunatics, are making these jokes these days... "Oh, ANOTHER Gurdwara? Oh God, how many Gurdwaras in a day we should have?" Let the meditations teach them what a day in the hell will mean to their soul! "Hey, what we are going to do today? We can't have a free evening? God, our Sunday, since I am a Sikh, my Sunday is killed. I can't go to the beach. I can't do anything. Every morning! Let us not go to this Gurdwara. Well, you know, Yogi Ji comes every Sunday. Then it will be difficult... He'll figure it out. And I don't want to face that." Band khalaasee bhaanai hoeh. Hor aakh naa sakai koeh. Je ko khaa-ik aakhan paa-eh. Oh jaanai jetee-aa mo-eh khaa-eh. Band khalaasee... Sanskaar and karam will join and there will be an imprisonment... confinement. Mockery of the reality brings confinement. And now people say, "Don't try to curse people. Don't try to push people." No, nobody's cursing and nobody's pushing. Your reality and your shallowness is being challenged. That's about it. "Oh God, another Sunday?" I was told that day that we should have three Sunday Gurdwaras, and one Sunday should be half. I said, "I can accept the proposal provided THAT week, all five days there will be a Gurdwara." "Why?" I said, "To cover your mental mischief, your spiritual defunctness, and your physical lethargy." I am not promising you anything. It was my privilege to share with you my innermost acknowledged conscious feelings. When you are beyond you, the children of the Dharma will rule and live on this planet in the most saintliness of their most compassion and kindness, grace, totally bewitching and enjoying the height of oneness with God. And the understanding of "Ik Ong Kar" shall ring like a bell in every beat of the heart. I mean, just let them understand... it is we, the misunderstood idiots, who took to the path without knowing that many many lifetimes we have prayed and prayed and meditated and have earned this privilege to be in the House of Guru. Sometimes I understand your position is like friend of mine, who once was traveling with me and we were caught by the storm and we drifted. And in that drift we were sheltering ourselves. But when everything came to calmness, I woke him up, I said, "Let's go." He said, "I can't proceed." I said, "What do you want?" He said, "I want my cha (tea)." And I said, "Well, entire wood is wet. And, yes, in the horse saddle there's every arrangement, but then you get up and make it." He said, "All right." So he gathered together some little wood, here under this tree, under that tree, and did all that. And surprisingly took the match stick and started burning it, but when it didn't work it out he took lot of rupees which were always there and started burning the money. Finally, you know, those rupees were not that many tons of it, it all got burned. And tea didn't come through. And I cracked up. I laughed. He said, "Why you are laughing?" I said, "You burned your credit and tea didn't come. "Deen gu-aayaa doonee to(n) doonee na chalee naal". You lost your patience and your faith and energy of infinity just for this cup of tea, and the tea didn't happen either." I said, "Do you know this cup of single, cold tea, how much it costs you?" He said, "Yeah, I must just have burned 200-300 rupees." In those days, my dear, one kilo (two pounds) of milk used to cost one-sixteenth of a rupee. Two, three, four hundred rupees which he burned could have bought five acres of land totally implanted with trees, tea trees. And then in the end I said, "Are you willing to walk?" He said, "Yes, I have to go." When we travelled the journey, we came to a rest-house and I asked him, I said, "Could you tell me why tea was essential?" He said, "You tell me." I said, "It is a habit to deny yourself the Infinity. You lacked courage. You brought your insecurity before you." He said, "Well, what is wrong now?" I said, "How we are going to pay this? You burnt all the money." He said, "Well, why didn't you stop me then?" I said, "I was not stopping, I was watching. I was surprised that with all that education and all that knowledge and all that what you talk about, you were burning the money. You were burning your credit. Ability to buy. Ability to be comfortable tomorrow. You burned it for a lousy cup of tea which never happened. And you still walked, and you still come here and we both are standing here paupers." He said, "You have your money." I said, "No, you took mine, too. You took mine, emptied my sack, your sack, and you burned it." He said, "What should we do now?" I said, "Now we should tell them who we are." He said, "What that will do?" I said, "Watch... Now you don't have to worry about it. No, let me handle it. The problem is, now you will be silent and I'll be talking in between. Is that the decision?" He said, "Yes, Ok." I went there and I asked the man, I said, "We need a rest, we need a room, we need this." He said, "Oh, thank you. I recognize you. How are you? How's your this?" You know, it was all done. And when we did all that thing, I told him, I said, "At the moment it is not possible to pay you." He said, "I never asked. Oh no, no, no, no, Sir." I said, "Then all the things we need should be provided, and a messenger should be sent home to tell that we have reached such and such a place, and a letter should be delivered in which I wrote... these are my words, I still remember." I said, "Today, such and such thing has acted totally insane and we have absolutely no way to pay, but our self-credit has worked it out. We are very comfortable. This messenger may be honored and respected and along with that, help and money should be sent to redeem us from this place." And I sent the messenger. Well, you know, a man came, money came, everything was fine. And he told me, "What difference it makes?" I said, "Without credit, everything is a debit." The means must be available. Manners must be available. Maturity must be available. Mentality should be pure. Objectivity should be right. These are the ways of the kings of the kings. So proud it became Guru Gobind Singh. As Guru Amar Das was told, "You are the honor of the honorless. You are the place of the placeless. You are the forgiveness of the forgiveness. "Guru Amar Das, Nithaaniaa nithaan. Ni Otiaa di Ot. Ni aaseray de aaseray. Dhan Dhan Sahib Guru Amar Das." That's how Guru Angad blessed him. I said, "That is how Khalsa was blessed by Guru Gobind Singh." Khaalsaa mero roop hei khaas. Khaalse meh ho karao nivaas. Khaalsaa mero mukh hei angaa. Khalsa is my special form. In the Khalsa I reside. Khalsa is the fiber of my being. --Guru Gobind Singh Ji All personal objectives were given to the Khalsa. Blessings were given to Khalsa, but put one simple condition: Jab lag khaalsa rahe niaaraa, Tab lag tej dee-o mai(n) saaraa. So long as the Khalsa will be distinct, I will give all the light to it. --Guru Gobind Singh Ji When they will be in their identity, away and above (niaaraa), I shall give all the light. Jab eh gahai bipran kee reet. Mai(n) naa(n) karo(n) in kee parteet. If they adopt the common ways, I will not satisfy them. --Guru Gobind Singh Ji When they shall follow the commoners, they shall have no satisfaction. So what is the order of the day? It is the order of the day to be compassionately working with your soul and living in the simple, high horizon of that God's grace. You must go up... and see the little hurdles in the life will go away. I know these days I'm being accused of inaction. For a long time I do not act. I do not tell this, I do not tell that. What is there to tell? Why to tell a person the Infinite gospel truth who cannot hear even the earthly things through these ears? What is there to tell? We are all in a learning process but we are very fortunate that somehow there is something which has brought us to the lotus feet of the Guru. And Guru, Shabad Guru, which is always, shall ever be, the same, which has no distinction between the poor and rich, healthy and the unhealthy. That day the hukam came... very beautiful, and I was very rejoicing. I said, "Hukam came... wonderful!" And somebody said, "Everyday hukam comes beautiful. Guru doesn't speak anything other than that." I said, "You bet. All right." I said, "One to ten. Let us go and take another hukam from the Guru." Hukam came: "You idiot who doesn't have any understanding. You who live in the filth. You who does not have any demarcation. You who's wasting the precious life of these emeralds and diamonds and all that for a shell." I said, "Are we going to stop or you are going to read further?" I said, "Guru speaks as a God, and God speaks the praises of the Guru." We are very grateful to Guru Amar Das to give us the guidance of nobility of service and humility of compassion, and kindness as the dignity for human nobility. We belong to that Guru. That's a part of us. That's a third part of us. We have ten parts. Five on the left, five on the right. Five bhagatee and five shakti. Look at the beauty of this Dharma... Five bhagatee, five shakti. Guru Hargobind is our sixth part. Chetaan. He wore two swords, the sword for living righteous and tolerating not the unrighteous. We have ten parts, and the eleventh tells us that seva, simran, bhagatee, shakti, naam, bana, banee are the attirements which we have achieved and which you share. Somebody just wanted to go somewhere and the person said, "Should I wear bana or not?" I said, "Je manere bana, ta too paale bana." If you want to look to the will of God and you are going as a representative of God, and you are going to represent the Guru, then go in a bana. But if you are going to represent you, then wear anything." Person said, "No, I want to represent the Guru." I said, "Then what is the question? Then go and let be known." And I said, "Once you get known then there is a responsibility. Then behave also, and then honor the Guru, and put Guru before you, not you before you." The situation was very successful, came very praise worthy and jumping... "I am very happy." I said, "Do it again. Do it again. Do it again and do it forever." So my dear ones, we have ten parts of our life. One, and zero. And we have life before us. Let this day bring us the totality of that compassion, kindness and devotion... that whatever the world says, world says. But what we say to ourselves is that God is great and with this every limb of us, "Ang Sang Wahe Guru!" If you have come crying, go smiling. That's the bottom line. Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - end - Copyright by Yogi Bhajan, 1988 transcript by Tej Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles CA