Guru Gobind Singh is alive

Guru Gobind Singh Ji infused the spirit of both sainthood and soldier in the minds and hearts of his followers to fight oppression in order to restore justice, peace, righteousness (Dharma) and to uplift the down-trodden people in this world.

Is it possible to be a saint and soldier at the same time? Are they not the two extremes of human personality? They seem to be so unless we see a live example. Once we see such an example, we will be even more amazed…

When I read the above blue-highlighted words in SikiWiki about Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Guru of Sikhism, I felt those words are 100% true. Why? What made me say that it is one hundred percent true? Well, it is my personal experience. Although I am a Hindu, I am married to a Sikh and he symbolizes every word of the first paragraph of this article. My husband has a detached attitude towards life, more detached than any sanyasi. That doesn’t mean he is a recluse. He is lively, friendly, but has very simple habits – he lives on the simplest food and clothing. He has been postponing the purchase of a new bike for himself although his bike has become very old and everyday he has to travel 80 km to work and return home.

My husband has immense courage and never hesitates to fight for justice, peace and righteousness. Recently, he saw an auto-driver chasing/bullying a lady driving a car. My husband followed the auto-rickshaw and warned the driver severely. It would have left the auto-driver in such fear that he would never ever indulge in such eve-teasing. This is in spite of my husband having an average build and not knowing any martial art. I am convinced that courage of the mind is more powerful than physical strength.

Uplift of the downtrodden, yes, my husband donates whole-heartedly to almost every person who approaches him for charity. Financial assistance for educating orphan children, medical aid for poor, conducting the marriage of poor girls, providing livelihood for poor women by training them to stitch, and donating them sewing machine – these are some of the causes for which my husband had donated in the last few years. He is not rich, he doesn’t earn much, but he has a big heart.

I started to write an article on Guru Gobind Singh. Instead, I wrote all about my husband. Does it not show the power of Guru Gobind Singh? Both Wikipedia and Sikiwiki say that Guru Gobind Singh ji was born in 1666 at Patna, Bihar and died in 1708 at Nanded, Maharashtra. I disagree. Even 300 years after his death, if he is inspiring his followers to lead a life of purity, simplicity (saintliness), courage (soldier) to fight injustice, and kindness to help the poor and downtrodden, it only means that he did not die in 1708.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji is alive, he is living in every one of us who wish to follow his ideals, inspiring us, motivating us, and guiding us.

Do not criticize…

I have seen people commenting, “Just by going to temple, doing a pradakshina, and breaking a coconut, what do they achieve? They have no real love of God.’’

The first sign of pure devotion is tolerance. Do not criticize. Know that each and every individual is progressing. The progress is different for different people. If you do not want to break a coconut or put flowers for a picture or idol, it is your wish. You may worship in your own way. But do not criticize any form of worship unless it causes injury to another (for example, animal sacrifice).

Nothing goes waste. Even the one who breaks a coconut as a form of worship, with the intention that it will be useful for making chutney later on in the day, loses nothing. In fact, even such people are better compared to the person who buys a cigarette or alcohol with that money or puts fire to somebody’s house.

Even the person who goes to a temple as a matter of habit, rather than with pure devotion and love of God, is still better than a person who goes to a movie hall or spends time in useless internet chat.

In course of time, love and devotion for God will spring from the heart of that person who is doing those acts of breaking a coconut or visiting a holy place. The progress may be slow, but the path is not wrong.

Every one is progressing. The theory of evolution is true for every individual. If possible, guide them and show the light. But, do not criticize… because criticism often leads to bitterness and repulsion. Moreover, the time and money may go into wrong places as mentioned above (instead of buying coconut and flowers, they may buy cigarettes or alcohol; and instead of visiting a holy place, they may visit the wrong places). May be, this is what is happening now in the case of many individuals. They strayed away into a wrong path and ruined themselves.

Now there are people who break coconuts, visit holy places and do a lot of crime as well! What can we say about such people? One fine day, even such people will realize their folly and light will shine in their heart.

Time is precious. This human birth is very precious. Let us utilize every minute of our life in constructive activities.

Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part IX: Further Teachings

1. Disciple: "Those who are obtaining your blessings are fortunate indeed. What will happen to people in the future?" Mother: "What do you mean? Why won't they too succeed? God exists everywhere and at all times. The Master is always there. They will succeed through his grace. Are not people realizing God in other countries?"

2. To someone who asked if there is any truth in image worship, Mother said, "From time out of mind, innumerable people have worshipped images and thus attained spiritual knowledge. Can you deny this fact? The Master never cherished dogmatic views. Brahman exists everywhere. Prophets and Incarnations are born to show benighted humanity their way. They give different instructions to suit different temperaments. There are many ways to realize truth. So all these instructions have their relative value. For instance, many birds are perched on the branches of a tree. They are of different colours: white, black, red, yellow, and so on. Their sounds, too, are different. But when they sing we say that the sounds are made by the birds. We do not designate one particular sound only as the sound of the birds, and refuse to acknowledge the other sounds as such."

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Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part VIII: Love and Compassion

Holy mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings regarding “Love and Compassion” are presented below:

1. "I tell you one thing — if you want peace, do not find fault with others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own."

2. "To err is human. One must not take that into account. It is harmful for oneself. One gets into the habit of finding fault. ... Do not look for faults in others, or your own eyes will become faulty."

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Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part VII: Advice to Householders

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings for householders are presented below:

1. "Those who belong to a very high plane of existence alone can take to the monastic life and free themselves from all bondages. Again there are some who are born to have a little taste of this worldly life. I say that one should see through worldly enjoyments. …Let X — marry and finish all enjoyments in this life; otherwise there is no knowing when he may fall a victim to some unfulfilled desire. But you may be sure of this, that so long as he remains under the Master's1 protection he can never slip."

2. When a young man, out of temporary dispassion, expressed unwillingness to marry, Mother said, "How is that? God has created things in pairs: two eyes, two ears, two legs — and likewise, man and woman."

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Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi - Part VI: Renunciation

The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings on Renunciation are presented here:

1. "You are a living God. Who is able to renounce all for God's sake? Even the injunctions of Destiny are cancelled if one takes refuge in God. Destiny strikes off with her own hand what she has written about such a person."

2. "Will a man who has strong desires for worldly pleasures listen to me if I ask him to renounce them? But if a fortunate soul has realized the world to be the sport of Maya and God alone to be real, shall I not help him a little? Is there any end to the suffering in the world?"

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