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Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogi Ji
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Make the Commitment…then Live It

Life emerges out of the truth. Someone asked me today, “Is there any hope?” My friend, hope is for those who are hopeless. Hopeless means there is less hope, that’s all. If there is less hope, make it a little more, a little more, and a little more. And one day you’ll find there is no ‘less,’ there is just hope. Then you add on and add on, and then you’ll be hopeful. The state of consciousness can go from hopeless to hopeful. That’s what we enjoy. That’s what we relate to. And it only belongs to that one who experiences through commitment. Life without commitment is like a flower without fragrance. Life without commitment is like a moon without light. It is an eclipse. What is the guarantee that you are intelligent? There’s no guarantee that you are intelligent. The guarantee of your intelligence comes when you are tested in the face of your commitment, and you come through.

Once Rishi Vyasa was sitting in the congregation, and somebody asked, “Lord, you have all the wisdom. Tell me, what is the most difficult job?”

He said “Before I answer, let me check with everybody.” So he asked everybody. Someone said it is very difficult to be a king, someone else said it is difficult to be a saint, others said it is difficult to be this, or difficult to be that. People came up with many difficult tasks. Finally, Rishi Vyasa said, “It is most difficult in life to accept a teacher, and it is super difficult to serve him.” He explained, “God is nothing but Infinite Ego, which is a hidden hand that can catch you. A teacher’s ego is like a hand which is out in the open and which will be right on your throat without being asked. Because the moment you walk in an unwise realm, there is one person will not spare you, and that is your teacher. Why? Because of his ego. A foolish student is a challenge to the ego of the teacher. It means he has taught nothing. It is not a clash of personalities. If a teacher is real, his future is in danger. A bad student is an indication of future negativity. It is better not to have such a student. It is exactly the same in consciousness. When your consciousness is caught up in a state of commotion it challenges your intelligence. When you are in a state of commotion, you are unintelligent. That’s the polarity. Life is a simple, straight truth.

Just now I was asked, ‘Sir, when people become negative to you, you become more positive and lovey-dovey, and they never feel they have done wrong.” My answer was very simple. “What should I do? If a person is sick, my job is to nurse that person. Should I ignore them, negate them? Make them sicker when they are at that moment incompetent?”

In this country, I feel very honestly from my heart, that people are so unloved that it is ridiculous to tell them what love is. Just love them…People have been ripped off so much that they can’t trust anyone. If you try to force them to trust you, what can you expect? It’s a normal thing in our society that when we want to move, we must pick up the telephone and call 25 to 30 people. It’s normal. It’s the American way. Why? Because we don’t trust ourselves to know whether we should move or not. We live on feedback. Gossip is our way of life. Negative gossip is just as dear to us as prana.

We have been so unloved, and so exploited, and so crushed, that now when someone tells us they love us, it’s unbelievable.

Somebody once asked me, “What is the future of Sikh Dharma?”

I said, “My friend, there are two classifications of people: seekers and non-seekers. If you want to seek, then you have to seek, and in your seeking, you’ll find the way.”

She was a little more direct in asking the next question. She said, “Sir, I mean to say, do you think that we have to tie a turban and have a beard to be a Sikh?”

I said, “Not at all. This tying a turban and growing your hair and beard is not for everybody. When did I ever say that?” I told her to ask them why they do it. I myself am unable to figure out why they do it. It’s my imagination that they just do it because something is troubling them to do it. Because my personality is totally amazed at the fact that they even do it. I honestly understand that they do it to commit. Commitment is to experience your excellence. It is the highest state of consciousness. It provides an individual the opportunity to experience his excellence.”

She asked me, “Suppose some parents come and take away your students through the court?”

I said, “If parents can pick up a court order and take someone who calls himself a Sikh, then it is up to the Sikh. A Sikh definitely knows how to take care of himself. Guru Gobind Singh laid it out for us clean and clear. I pray for that day when they will pick up any one of us – that will be the day when we can show our fiber. As long as we sing, ‘Strong as steel, steady as stone,’ that day will come. We’ll repeat the history.”

More than anybody, I am waiting for the day when my dear cubs will roar and let the world know they are not just committed out of fashion, they are committed from the heart. There will come a time to prove their excellence. Steel is always known in the battle, and man is always known against the odds. What is the use of having a herd of sheep? Now we live that legacy. That is commitment.

There are 250 million uncommitted Americans making up the United States of America. Do we have a grudge against them? Not at all. They change their husband, they change their wife, they change their hairdo, they change their street address, they change, change, change, so much that they don’t know what change is. It’s my father, it’s my father’s father, it’s my father’s half-father, fourth father, one-fourth father, one-third mother, two-thirds mother – God knows from where they got these figures. And now we accept this as normal life? Alright, we accepted because we never knew better. But now we know better. The past is dead. Who carries dead stuff around? It’s gone, gone with the wind. Because people wanted to commit, they were seeking, they were praying for the opportunity. God provided the opportunity. But making the commitment is not enough. One has to live it. One thing in Sikh Dharma, my folks, is very simple, and that is that one has to live it. Imagination doesn’t work in this way of life.

Somebody once asked me a question, “What is 3HO?”

I said, “Healthy, happy, and holy.”

“Who can be a member?”

I said, “Whoever thinks that he or she is healthy, happy and holy, or who thinks they can be healthy, happy and holy, or who even has the least imagination that there might be a hope that they can be healthy, happy and holy. They all can be a member of 3HO. And, if they do not have even the least imagination of it, it’s not for them.”

The next question was, “Suppose the FBI wants to infiltrate 3HO, what precaution do you have?”

I said, “It’s a very simple precaution. If a member of the FBI joins 3HO and takes part at 3:30 a.m., and does it for a month or 40 days, he will be most welcome. Forty days of cold showers will be very healing for that agent. Are you kidding? You just try it. The procedure is very simple and very direct. When cold water hits you at 3:30 in the morning, the only word which comes out of your mouth is “Sat Nam.” And that comes from your innermost self. The head doesn’t work at that time, only the heart works. It is that procedure which opens up the heart center. There is another tap with hot water right next to the cold one. A faithful one, having faith in Infinity, for the sake of his sadhana, does not open the hot water tap, only the cold one. At that time, except for the Name of God, nothing else comes to your mind. It’s too cold, folks! And then you carry with you your own pride, give thanks to God and live in gratitude.

Somebody once complained to me, “What should I do with somebody who sleeps during sadhana?” I said, “Do nothing.” “Sir, what do you mean?” I said, “The guy never had it in his karma to get up before 11:00 a.m. At least now he gets up. Is that not enough?” Sometimes we forget who we are dealing with. People try to tell us that we are brainwashing people, but I tell you, they have already been brainwashed. People in this society have been told never to sleep less than 8 hours, that it is unhealthy. Why? It was known that, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

I want to ask one question. Where is the morality of this government when you see what is going on in the streets at night? What moral and ethical right does anybody have to ask of any person, “Who are you?” They tax us millions and trillions and zillions of dollars and do not deliver anything near the expectations of what they have promised. Our streets are not safe. Out lives are not safe. The person who wants to practice righteousness is mocked. Out of this entire sickness, you think the human mind will not get tired? It will. It is that cry of consciousness which is bringing us to the state of purity. This moment of life is the most powerful time to be patient. Patience pays, and it is known through time immemorial that patience is a most successful tool.


©1977 The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan

Above Article Copyright © Yogi Bhajan 2002. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.



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