Hello everybody. They say there are certain things which are very opaque... substance, and certain things are very subtle, and they are which maintain the substance. Physical body is opaque. Wealth is opaque. Power, domain is opaque, but morality, dignity, integrity, nobility are subtle. And when there is an overflow of subtle over opaque, man is worshipped. When opaque is too much, or subtle is too less, one is hated. If you do not believe me... I don't want you to believe, but listen to the history of kings and queens -- they all got beheaded for one reason or another, because whenever in the stage of life your opaque is in proportion more than your subtle, you are ready for execution. Nobody can overthrow anybody and nobody can overtake anybody. It's just a law of spirit, and nobody's strong enough. But when in a human body the concept becomes totally earthy -- too much dirt to dirt, too much dust to dust, it creates a lot of dust storms in life. You are the very honorable body of the Khalsa Council. You have to bear in mind that one day you will not be covered the way you are being covered now. You will be right out to answer to your own consciousness. And sometimes you may wonder, if I am not around, "What went wrong with me?" That's the question people normally ask. "What went wrong with me?" "Nothing. Opaqueness became more. Eyesight became nothing. One becomes blind." When subtle becomes more, then sharpness comes faster, and one becomes very vigilant. And it is not in particularly to whom it happened and when it happened and how it happened. This is a saga of life. It's not that somebody has to worry about it. I'll give you a historical fact, a historical fact in the life of Guru Gobind Singh... and I'll like to share with you today. Once Guru Gobind Singh with his....he was Guru Gobind Singh, not Guru Gobind Rai... He was out camping and a man brought a bear and wanted to do the play, and everybody was very enthusiastic to see what bear can do, and this man did so many acts with the bear that it pleased the Guru and his entire entourage, feeling very happy that bear could do all that. Out of pleasure, Guru did prashad, and said to his chauria, (the one who does the chauri on him), "Bhai, you give prashad to the bear." Now it was unusual that a drama happened. Guru could have given him some gold and matter would have ended... and game would have been over. Why the prashad was prepared, why ardas was done? So prashad was done and prashad was given and the bear ate it and he died right on the spot. Now the owner of that bear cried so loud. He said, "I trained it and I brought it and you guys fed it the prashad. Look what has happened to me! I am just mercilessly without money and without my means of livelihood." And he played all that drama which he wanted to play. So Guru told Kazanidar, the man who was in charge of the cash, "Go and hand him over the gold coins to the extent that he can live the rest of his life." So that was done. Now the chauria felt very guilty and he asked the Guru, "Why you made me to give him prashad, and why this prashad was made and all that?" And Guru said, "Don't you recognize who this bear was?" He said, "No." The Guru said, "That was your father." His chauri fell down. And he said, "Here is this." He said, "What?" He said, "My father chauried your father, their fathers. Three generations we have been doing chauri on you. And I am doing it. And if the net result of doing chauri is that one has to become a bear, then here... Adios! Enough is enough! I've had it!" Guru said, "If that's the way you want, that's what you want. That's okay. Fine." Then the chauria thought a little bit and he said, "You never do this. Can you explain what happened?" The Guru said, "Your father was the great Gursikh, no doubt, and I bow in reverence to him and that is why a prashad was prepared. You are a great Gursikh in spite of the fact you have handed over the chauri to me. And I told you to do this. Story is: your father was serving the prashad one day in the congregation. And one ordinary Sikh who was bringing the wood to the city, and to the langar, thought he can just go in the congregation and get the prashad and run. So he left his bullock cart working, and ran over and just wanted the prashad. Your father was serving. He told him, "Hey, give me prashad. I want to go. My bullock carts are going. I want prashad and I don't want to hear anything." Your father said, "Sit down." You know, they started giving rules to these people. And he said, "No, I just want prashad." And he just clamped on him. And he said, "Why you are clamping on me like a bear?" "Don't you understand, you sit down and I'll give it to you." Meanwhile a little prashad fell down and he picked it up. He said, "I am not clamping on you, bear. You are the bear!" And he ran away, caught up with his bullock cart and ran. "Now that is the saying of a Gursikh," he said. "Your father has gone through this just because something happened. He couldn't recognize the subtlety of life, and its opaqueness. Because he has done chauris, it comes on the House of the Guru to redeem him, and that's why prashad was done." The Sikh took back the chauri and was apologetic as it goes on. Sometimes in our grossness, in our judgement, in our stupidity as human, we not only create a dirt in ourselves, but we spread it around thinking that's very satisfactory, and we become very judgmental as that Gursikh who was serving the prashad wanted to obey the rules: "Sit down properly, put your hands up, and then I'll give it to you," and all that. My purpose of telling you this story is that between you and me, God knows how long I'll be in a position to speak to you and how long you'll have to listen to me. One day some of you will be here, still Khalsa Council, and some will carry the load as a Khalsa Council. Some may not. And I'm honest to God not looking forward that all of you should come through. I don't care. I've had it. What I gave you is status. I gave you honor. I gave you the privilege. I gave you because Guru wanted me to do it. I didn't do it because I was persuaded, I was blinded, and I was coaxed into it, or anything. I did it out of a simple love of my heart. Now it is up to you to maintain it and continue with it. If you are into your little things which I already know, then those things are your problems. But just I want to tell you now one thing: the great elephant does not die by the bullet of the enemy. It does die by the bite of the ant. People in congregation shall look to you for one thing. This is how they feel in their mind: "I am stupid, I am terrible, I can't make it. Can I trust this guy that he can cover me and himself... both?" Theory is still on every journey everybody needs a burden-packing coolie, or beast of burden. That's why mule became a more precious subject than even the horses. Spiritual man, how great he is, greater he is as a mule. If a spiritual man ever thinks he is a horse, he is absolutely not spiritual. He is phony, he is an actor, he is stupid, he'll go for a short while and he'll fall apart. Spirituality is the test of the subtle muscles to carry one's self and others with it. It doesn't mean more than that at all. There are three forces against this mule which is called 'spirituality': God, the Universe, and the Self. God is against you because you have to be tested, because to merge in God you have to be Godlike. Divine shall test you. That's one thing. The environment shall be against you because every light gets many moths. They burn themselves to the extent of death, but they want the light to go out. And YOU shall be against you because you have to discipline your Self and your Self says, "Why me?" And if you surmount these three things and still become a healthy, strong mule to carry others with you, without creating any sign or symptom of discontent, you can think you are spiritual. Here we sit, the body of Khalsa Council. Whether we think we are spiritual or not, whether we believe we are spiritual or not, whether we say we are spiritual or not... we are! And if some gap is to be covered, it has to be covered. And that's your responsibility. Because this is how trust happens. A person who is in congregation will come to you, not to help you, not to love you, and not to be with you. You are dead wrong if you ever think any student comes to a teacher to help him. It is dead wrong. It is a maya, it is an illusion. And in spiritual world if you think anybody comes to you to give you everything, you are dead wrong. They come out with a maya to bring the paper money to make it look good so that they can ride you to their destiny. They see you are a good mule. Before riding you they'll open your mouth, they'll test your teeth and they'll find it out and then they'll touch your legs... and really, a student examines all sides. "How is it?" Then they understand the map and they understand the ride, and the mountain where it has to go, and then they say, "Okay, I'll ride you." You think you got the heavens? No sir! You got the weight. Weight which could have walked itself, but wants to walk riding you. And that is the beginning of the spiritual world. If you have any misunderstanding about spirituality, you can read the literature and the books. You'll find everything the opposite of what I have said. It is totally opposite. You know why? Because if truth is known about a spiritual person, nobody will become spiritual. So they created a great myth and a maya that God loves the spiritual man. Forget it! If that would have been true, the son of God, Jesus, would not have been hung on the cross and Guru Arjan, Partakh Har, embodied God, should not have had to sit on the hot plate. Guru Tegh Bahadur, the breath of God, should not have been beheaded in Chaundi Chawk, and Guru Gobind Singh, the son of God, had not to go through the hell of times. Why it is true? All great men create great history. They don't live great lives. Make a choice! Sometimes I pray and wish it should not be a Khalsa Council and I can talk to you man to man. I can't. Here I am bound down by my stature and status as Siri Singh Sahib... you are bound down as honorable members of the Khalsa Council... so I have to talk in parables, and you have to listen and interpret them the way you want it. I'm not saying you are not innocent. If you have read religious books, if you have understood spirituality, and you have become spiritual on the concept that when one becomes conceptually spiritual, God comes to serve and world comes to help and uniqueness comes and comfort comes, then you have made a wrong decision. That's not true. Because I know myself what spirituality makes you to do. Yes, one thing is true -- when you walk on the path of spirituality and you make it to the last breath of your life, you do create a history which men will follow. That's true. So all great men create great history. They don't live great lives. Your own president got shot just letting the slaves go free. It is your history. You remember Abraham Lincoln? You remember your president John F. Kennedy? He wanted to handle mafia left and right. He got shot. Call it anything. Cuba connection. Call it Dallas connection. Call it anything. He got cut right in the prime. Great deeds in spiritual world are very subtle and they need a lot of opaque exercises of sacrifice. This sacrificial lamb and cutting a goat is not a sacrifice. That is a stupid way of interpreting symbolically what rightfully was to be done. On the Altar of Divinity you sacrifice your personal dignity, your personal grace, your personal existence, your personal personality... and when you are good enough, you sacrifice your totality... and that way you merge in God. I am saying this to go on record because books will read otherwise and story will be told otherwise. Those otherwise stories are meant for those little creatures who are persuaded to walk on the path of spirituality, not those who are members of the Khalsa Council. You are here, not that you were spiritual; you are not here because you are to be spiritual; you are here because it was your destiny. I did my role. It is up to you to play yours. I want to answer that question, "Why people on the Khalsa Council fell apart? Why they are what they are? Why they are not what they should be?" My answer is very simple. They earned it by destiny as they earned to be a human by destiny. They live to be what they live to be. If they do not live to be... they do not live to be. I am no judge. If I can just not serve and help, I shall not be in their way. Yesterday in the business council, the question was asked about hiring and firing. In spiritual world there's no need of firing. When the spirit dies in a person he fires himself and herself automatically. In spiritual world, reaction is vendetta and it creates problems. Spiritual world is a great subtle world. In spiritual world then your spiritual will freak out, your voltage will go down, your fear and paranoia become greater, your emotion and your commotion will blind you, and you'll become absolutely engulfed into your maya. You'll be gone without saying one word. Therefore we have kept the spiritual tradition of not firing people or even going on record to say, "Adios." I very painfully once invoked the consent to suspend a member of the Khalsa Council, which I never wanted to do myself, because idea was that we do not need the violence. It is an honorable body of peace and tranquility of spirituality. It is a privilege to be a member and visit it. It is an honor to participate and it is a virtue to carry on the duties and the strength of it. Also remember that sometimes we cannot carry our own domestic responsibilities... our business responsibilities... but when you become a spiritual man, nobody bothers or cares whether you carry your domestic and business responsibilities and personal responsibilities or not. All they care about is whether you are willing to carry THEM or not, and that sometimes is very offensive. And you might have asked the question, "Why do I have to do this?" You have to do this because you asked for it! It is destined to be. Now, no rooster can become a mule. And nobody will ride a rooster, though it can go on the top of the temple and crow, and though it can wake up the entire city to congregate. Though it is a symbol of the bird of the morning dawn. It is a very respected bird, but it is not a mule. On a horse, king rides. But horse cannot take the weight of the mule. Spirituality is a mule syndrome. And mule is neither a horse nor a donkey. It is something totally in between. It has the capacity of the donkey to take the burden. It has the balance and the strength of the horse to make the way. You may not be interested to become a page of the history. But all I want to remind you... that was all your destiny was. I didn't select people because they were near to me. I didn't select them because they were far away from me. Rather I tell you my personal story: People I have near to me, they have abused me more than people who are distant. Or, might be I have not heard it, they still might have saved my position. I don't care. This is the last line I'll like to utter: "I came to do a job. I did it as God helped me to do it. May Guru bless me and not look at my errors, because errors are human, and it is God's problem to make me a human. I didn't ask for it." I have done my job, now it is a time that you should do your job. Stay simple, straight, open and honest with each other. You all will flourish. Some of you have problem with bana. Some of you have problem with banis. Some of you have problem with seva and simran. These are the four facets and I am going to explain to you what it means. This is the last time. I won't repeat it! Yes, it does bother me when a person doesn't wear bana. Yes, I agree. I don't disagree that one should not wear bana in the bed. I don't disagree that one should not wear bana all the time. I don't have any conflict with the fact that one should walk naked. I have no problem. Please read me right. I have no problem if people eat meat. I have no problem if they don't have meat. Rather those who want to eat meat, they should sleep with the goat at night and first thing in the morning they should get up and bite it. I have no problem. I absolutely have no problem with people who do not wear bana and they want to wear American clothes. Bana is neither American nor it is Indian. I want to make it very clear. Bana is not a Punjabi dress, nor it is a U.P. dress, nor it is a South Indian dress, neither it comes from Sri Lanka, nor it comes from Canada, and neither Yogi Bhajan manufactured it. I just want to let you know. Bana comes from the concept and consciousness of Guru Gobind Singh himself. Why I believe in it? I believe in it because at that time the humanity was so downtrodden, so rotten, so nothing. Tragedy of human life was so great, there was nothing to it. And I do believe at that time there were Pandits, there were scriptures, there were temples, there was puja, there was every facet of spiritual life practice available in India, and nothing worked. History guarantees it, confirms it, and makes us to read it. Then, Guru Gobind Singh called a congregation on the day of Baisakhi. It is written in the records of the Imperial writer, that there were eighty to ninety thousand people there who came on his call alone. He also writes that the Guru asked for a sacrificial head... and he doesn't address us like Sikhs. He addressed us like... saags kootay... dogs. And he said he and his dog... 80,000 dogs he said... Sagay taavaa. He and his 80 to 85 thousand dogs gathered together to bark at the imperial forces. Well... that's how he writes. So he was not extremely friendly and compassionate, either. But he said that something strange happened, that this big dog asked the small dogs to give a sacrificial head and he said: "Some murmured and looked around. Some walked away, but one after the other, five got up. And each time a bleeding sword came out of the tent." And he said, "I was, myself, shocked, what this guy is doing. This... the Guru of these people." And he said, "After awhile I was shocked and amazed..." This is his writing, not mine... "That five people, totally alive, dressed by him in bana, came out." And he said, "That shook my total being inside, and I knew what he has done, it is going to tear up the imperial power." That is why I know what bana did then, and I know humanity is not in a better condition now than then. And I do believe that what Guru Gobind Singh did, worked, and I do believe it will work now. I may be wrong. Your intellect, intelligence and consciousness may not accept me. That's not my problem. I'd like to go on record making it absolutely clear. Those who have any misunderstanding that they shall be tolerated in the high offices of the Sikh Dharma and they can make their own bana, I proclaim that they shall be dishonorably punished and thrown out in the future generations when we shall become the ruling word of this earth! I don't believe that we are going to be this small. I don't see it at all. Maybe what I see, you don't. And maybe what you see, I don't. And maybe it is an opinion. Maybe I am a con man who is telling you something which is never going to happen, and maybe I am the man of God who is telling you what is happening... and what you see nothing will happen, and what I say, will. But I am, I am, and I shall use my authority to the extent which God has provided me with and Guru has blessed me for. And I want to make it very clear. My concept is not that I love bana... because I don't run boutique shops, and I don't sell clothes... but I want to make it very clear, so clear that you can see yourself once and for all, and I want to go on record today: To me, bana is not what I want to believe and I want to wear. But I know the time and the circumstances are coming so heavily, and humanity has to go through such a grind. I knew then, and I know it now, and I can say it for the future: We need people of that grit... that courage. And I agree with you scientifically, your stupid clothes -- in YOUR English now I am talking -- "A few stupid clothes are not going to make any difference." Well, a few stupid thoughts are not going to make any difference, either! Bana is going to be bana and it's going to be worn, and there's not going to be two opinions about it! And this seals the argument against and for it. And let it be known in record: Let there be no Sikh and no Khalsa Council, but bana shall be the ruling, supreme, priority! That stops all jokes, direct, indirect... underhandedness, and everything about it. A proven fact is that the father of this nation did something, and we cannot betray it because that worked, and we have to take advantage of it. We want it to work now. Psychologically it has an advantage. And that is an interpretation. It may not be true. Therefore I take no responsibility about the truth of it. You can interpret it the way you want it. Psychologically when a person wears bana, how richly he can wear, how poorly he can wear, he becomes very lonely and extremely exclusive. Absolutely out of the window. Bana does that and I know it. And Guru Gobind Singh says that, "Jab lag khalsa rahe niaaraa. Tab lag tej dee-o meh saaraa. Jab eh gahai bipran kee re!t. Meh naa karo in kee parteet." I will give divine radiance to the Khalsa who will live as distinct. But if they adopt the common ways, I will not satisfy them. --Guru Gobind Singh, Sarab Loh Granth. "I'll not give them any satisfaction if they follow the commoner." And I have seen, understood, and thoroughly understand now, that bana is one thing which makes you totally exclusively separate from everything. It is very difficult to wear a bana and not think that you have to do something other than what you are doing. "Aashaa isht to paasanaa, kaan paan peraan." (Peraan is bana.) "Tusee katay ko ahhay miter pachaan." These three things must merge together to create the friendship. So if there is any doubt about it, it is not my concept, because mostly now the word is getting around that I thought of it because of controlling the situation. Not at all, sir. I didn't have to control anybody. Neither I want to control anybody. I don't want any more headaches. I have more than I can handle! I have no concept of handling anyone. My concept is: You are the mules who shall carry the God's crown tomorrow to its destiny. There should be no shame openly handling it, simple as it is. If my words are not simple, then you can make your own. I believe you have to have the honor of doing so, and I believe you are honorable enough that you will do so. As far as banis are concerned, it is a very simple thing. Your entire power as a human is based in the hypothalamus. I don't care what the doctor says, what your vitamin doctor says, what your natural doctor says, and what your any damn thing says to you. I have nothing to do with it. And I know hypothalamus and upper palate have a very thin connection. And I know the greatest intercourse in the world and greatest lingam is "ay rasanaa". It is the tongue. I know it. The entire... even the physical intercourse stimulated is based on the word, stimulated by the tongue, first. Now I don't want to go through this body, through the pornographic attitude of the whole thing. I just want to lay it flat. It is the tongue which becomes lingam. It is the upper palate which becomes the akasha. It is the akasha and the lingam which meet, intercourse happens, and God has to appear. Period! No two sciences about it. Gurbani is written absolutely in song and music and it says a lot of things. I not worried about what it says, either. I'm only worried how it is written. It is written in a permutation and combination for the tongue to rotate on the upper palate. Period. That is the secret of it. And in the computer age, you understand, one wrong key pressed can wipe out tons of files, and one right key pressed can reproduce the information in seconds. And there's going to be a future where you'll fully understand what bani actually means. Bani is not written in Gurmukhi, in the sense that we have to insert Punjabi on people. Bani is not written in Gurmukhi that we want to sell Gutkas in Gurmukhi or we want to sell a Punjabi press. That's not what it is for. It is written because the Naad has to coincide with the Aad... the basic Infinite of the Infinite. The merger of Naad and Aad creates the Swaad, the taste of Godship. Taste. Person doesn't go into anything but for taste. Life means nothing without taste. God is just an illusion without the taste of it. Those who got to God, they spread nothing about God... whether He has two hands or four hands... all they said was about taste of It. When Naad and Aad mix together, it creates the taste of Godhood! Seva, a service of giving without thinking of result, is a very simple thing. It makes you a leader whether you are or not. Whether you deserve to be or not. And it does bring you opportunities, prosperities (I'm not saying "prosperity" -- I am saying "prosperities"), opportunities, and all the goods, and God, and goodies of the universe. Simran is a simple thing. Simran is a simple concept which maintains you towards these three. And therefore please remember: bana, bani, seva, simran... these four things are with you.... Khalsa will stand in honor to receive.....WAHE GURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHE GURU JI KI FATEH! (Baba Nihal Singh enters.) Council receives Jethadar Baba Nihal Singh, the most veteran Sikh and the leader of the concept. A friend, and a man of God. (Baba Nihal Singh Ji sits and gives his Fateh to the Council) And now let us proceed with the concept about which we were just talking, because that's very important for me to conclude. My idea, personal and impersonal, was... in the study of the history.... and I feel historically there was no worst tragedy, exploitation and indignity of the human race, but what happened in the Mougal time... it was a rule of tyranny, fanaticism, and absolutely no care for any other human at all. And it was a rule of death. You speak, you die. You raise your hand, and your hands are cut. You raise your neck, your neck is gone. You go from home to work, you never come back. You cannot ask. And in that moment of moments, someone got up. "Meh sat too hei nivaajaa." The one whom God considered him His only son. Rishi Dushtdaman, who took the life as Guru Gobind Rai, and who baptized himself to be Guru Gobind Singh... and he gave us bana... he gave us banis... Siri Guru Granth was ordained as Guru for us. He gave us the concept of seva, and simran. I'm very pleased when I was talking about the bana, Guru Gobind Singh sent his own son in bana before you to confirm what I was saying. (Referring to Baba Nihal Singh.) It is not a coincidence, it is not an accident, it is not even organized and arranged that way. It happened. So I feel Guru guides his own path, his own people, and makes it happen that way. My feeling with this Council is very simple, and I have a very unique request today to make of you. If you have the misunderstanding that we will not trust you, you are wrong, because we did not trust you to begin with. Why should we trust you now? We did it because God ordered it that way. So it was not a matter of whether we trust you or we didn't trust you, we simply obeyed the Will of God. And I want to ask you: will you equally obey the Will of God, without getting into the rigmarole of whether you trust or not? Whether it suits you or not? Whether you like it or not? With these words I am very happy, this year especially, that you have probed into a lot of avenues and you have shown concern and deep responsibility, and we have a chance to go into the page of history, serving our destiny for tomorrow. Just remember: We are siblings of the destiny. That's why we are here. Not that anything else could have made it happen. With my personal gratitude to the God, and to my Guru, that I have lived this day to see you all and feel you for it, I trust this future to you and I hope you will carry it with the best of you. Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh! Later: (Addressing Gurdass Singh from Spain regarding his new Golden Temple song): What you have done to the Khalsa Council and to the Sikh Dharma and to the Sikh nation as a whole, generations will be grateful... because in a few lines you have captured the entire history. Next to the Song of the Khalsa, which tells the entire domain of the Khalsa, this song concludes all the struggling years of '84-'88, and now, and I'm so grateful that you could come up with it. And I think it is a privilege to focus you on the television and see you singing it, and I also requested the tape of this may be made so we can spread it around as a seva. It's VERY important. Can you speak the words singularly to be recorded clearly what you have written? Gurdass Singh: "When will I walk on the cold marble again? When will I feel the golden light in my eyes? Bathe in the holy waters, dress your altar with flowers. When will I walk on the cold water again?" "The silence of death has killed the songs so ageless. The turning of the pages. The prayers of the pure. The waters turn red, the sky above is darkened, And admist these walls of silence our prayers can be heard." "The earth cries in pain. Her heart has been broken. Her sons have been stolen, imprisoned and slain. Yet those who remain, their spirit grows stronger. They suffer no longer, sheltered in the name." SSSji: This song starts the era! Today, exactly what Nero did by burning the Rome, and putting the Christians on the stakes, and making it a fodder of the lions... and he called it a game. This song will be heard again. Never again somebody will repeat it. Never again will beat it. And we shall rise again to rule the earth in the Holy Name. We shall walk on the marble again with grace and strength to cover every length! WAHE GURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHE GURU JI KI FATEH! Receiving an honor... Baba Nihal Singh... among us, and listening to the painful song... the page of our history... and taking a vow that we and our generations will make it possible that it shall never happen again, the meeting is adjourned. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - END OF TRANSCRIPT 4/29/89 YOGI BHAJAN, 1989 Transcript by Tej Kaur Khalsa, Los Angeles, CA