Satyug- The bowl of cherries
We are often reminded by some Sikh Scholars-Katha vaachaks about 4 eras or eons-Satyug, Treyta,Duaaper and Kaljug when they pontificate Hindu mythology and try to link it with Sikhi. Our mind games divided into 4 time slots by those who claimed to have seen, known, met and talked to the personified god. The interesting part is that we are only reminded of Kalyug that we are supposed to be going through now as the dark age in our existence and also of Satyug, the eons in some distant past when good times were good times. Or were they? Sita’s abduction by Ravan does not give us the aura of any good times in Satyug. The whole story is written in Ramayana which was originally written by Valmiki.The story says that Rama was born in a royal family and was supposed to be the king, but because of his step- mother, he was forced to exile from his kingdom for fourteen years. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by a demon called Ravan, who was the king of Lanka. Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita.
By reading the above, one is reminded of the title of the self help book of the 70’s, ‘If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?
Let’s fast forward it to Kalyug, I must say that in Las Vegas, there is a thin line that divides Kalyug and Satyug depending on your luck at the Black Jack table and sometimes they intertwine. The Satyug also in Vegas is getting married at midnight at a drive through wedding chapel by the immortal, eternal Elvis and then dive into Kalyug while getting divorced at 5 am. All in the same stride. Now the question arises, what is the main ingredient of Kalyug?
It is fear.
Fear according to American Heritage is:
A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger
A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.
Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.
A reason for dread or apprehension.
All the above show the alchemy of Kalyug and how it can be concocted by dogmas. We all know very well that fear can not make us have our Satyug.
Now the question arises, are we God fearing or God loving?
Let’s try to find the answer to the question.
When human beings came into existence, they were very fearful of their surroundings because they did not understand them. This was true among all peoples from the Incas in the Andes to the Adhivasis in the deep jungles of India. Gradually, when people understood the natural phenomena of The Akalpurkh, they became less fearful. However, some among them saw the opportunity to become the 'spiritual leaders' of the tribes by becoming "the only ones with 'the Truth' in that little circle". These people engaged in fear tactics to keep the tribes under their influence. They created demons, hell and fireballs in the worlds beyond, where they said those who did not obey them or follow their teachings would perish to.
The 'leaders' evolved and their followers multiplied in numbers, hence the cults became religions. But the fear tactics remained the same in all religions until the birth of Guru Nanak in the 15th century.
"Satguru Nanak parghteiyah, mitti dhund jug chanan hoah".
Here Bhai Gurdas ji is not giving us the weather report of the day nor is he describing the kind of day Guru Nanak was born on. He is emphasizing Guru's Teachings that lifted the veil of darkness created by fear. Thus, fear created darkness began to evaporate and bright rays of love began to outshine.
Fear is darkness; Love is light. Fear breeds repression and submission; Love breeds freedom. Fear makes us cringe; Love makes us open our arms. Fear breeds rebellion; Love creates harmony. Fear is shackles; Love is 5K's.
This cultivation of Love has continued ever since and only due to our Love towards Vaheguru, Sikhi has flourished and has become the 5th largest religion with 25 million Sikhs worldwide in a mere 532 years.
If someone says to you "We should be fearful of God", please recite them the verse of our 10th Guru:
"Jin prem kioh, tinh hee Prabh payeioh" - Only Love can create the connection to Vaheguru.
Only love can prolong the time span of Satyug for a Sikh. So as Sikhs we have the tools to enjoy the cherries and discard the pits. Now another question arises, what kind of tools a Sikh has to prolong his/her spans of Satyug?
Most of the religions believe that accountability is only after death, which makes one wonder that as we can take nothing with us when we die, how can we carry all the ledgers of our lives there?
This concept was created by a few, sitting cross legged on their high chairs using, once again, fear tactics so that all the ones needing brokers to seek ONE GOD would fall under their spell, which even happens now a days.
Sheikh Farid says in SGGS #1379:
Farida, char gavaieah hund kei, char gavaieah sun,
Lekha rub mangesiah, tun kerei aahoh kum?
Hey man, you wasted 12 hours( 4 pehars) loitering around and the other 12 by sleeping,
When your time for accountability comes, how would you explain what you have been up to?
Here Farid ji is talking about 8 pahers meaning 24 hours.
A Sikh has a 'Day book' which he/she opens when they get up. The book is closed shut when we recite Soheila at night:-
Deu sajan assissirian, jei hovei sahib seu meil.
Oh Vaheguru, give me the blessing when I am ready to meet you, in other words when my last breath is gone.
So a Sikh is born (consciously aware) when he/she wakes up and is ready to die when he/she goes to bed, unlike other religions of Kalyug where accountability is only done after death.
In the life of a Sikh accountability is must and it should happen with every breath we take, the same way a bookkeeper keeps track of every transaction in his/her day book. This accountability keeps us aware all the times that Gurmat Ideals act as catalysts, e.g. one can kill a person with a lead pencil or one can draw like Leonardo da Vinci. With the help of Gurbani we all are capable of becoming Leonardos, or better we are all capable of becoming Nanaks.
Hence, only by being accountable with every breath we take, we can enlarge our spans of Satyug, if not, we shall remain in the pits of Kalyug.
Tejwant
We are often reminded by some Sikh Scholars-Katha vaachaks about 4 eras or eons-Satyug, Treyta,Duaaper and Kaljug when they pontificate Hindu mythology and try to link it with Sikhi. Our mind games divided into 4 time slots by those who claimed to have seen, known, met and talked to the personified god. The interesting part is that we are only reminded of Kalyug that we are supposed to be going through now as the dark age in our existence and also of Satyug, the eons in some distant past when good times were good times. Or were they? Sita’s abduction by Ravan does not give us the aura of any good times in Satyug. The whole story is written in Ramayana which was originally written by Valmiki.The story says that Rama was born in a royal family and was supposed to be the king, but because of his step- mother, he was forced to exile from his kingdom for fourteen years. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by a demon called Ravan, who was the king of Lanka. Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita.
By reading the above, one is reminded of the title of the self help book of the 70’s, ‘If life is a bowl of cherries, what am I doing in the pits?
Let’s fast forward it to Kalyug, I must say that in Las Vegas, there is a thin line that divides Kalyug and Satyug depending on your luck at the Black Jack table and sometimes they intertwine. The Satyug also in Vegas is getting married at midnight at a drive through wedding chapel by the immortal, eternal Elvis and then dive into Kalyug while getting divorced at 5 am. All in the same stride. Now the question arises, what is the main ingredient of Kalyug?
It is fear.
Fear according to American Heritage is:
A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger
A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.
Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.
A reason for dread or apprehension.
All the above show the alchemy of Kalyug and how it can be concocted by dogmas. We all know very well that fear can not make us have our Satyug.
Now the question arises, are we God fearing or God loving?
Let’s try to find the answer to the question.
When human beings came into existence, they were very fearful of their surroundings because they did not understand them. This was true among all peoples from the Incas in the Andes to the Adhivasis in the deep jungles of India. Gradually, when people understood the natural phenomena of The Akalpurkh, they became less fearful. However, some among them saw the opportunity to become the 'spiritual leaders' of the tribes by becoming "the only ones with 'the Truth' in that little circle". These people engaged in fear tactics to keep the tribes under their influence. They created demons, hell and fireballs in the worlds beyond, where they said those who did not obey them or follow their teachings would perish to.
The 'leaders' evolved and their followers multiplied in numbers, hence the cults became religions. But the fear tactics remained the same in all religions until the birth of Guru Nanak in the 15th century.
"Satguru Nanak parghteiyah, mitti dhund jug chanan hoah".
Here Bhai Gurdas ji is not giving us the weather report of the day nor is he describing the kind of day Guru Nanak was born on. He is emphasizing Guru's Teachings that lifted the veil of darkness created by fear. Thus, fear created darkness began to evaporate and bright rays of love began to outshine.
Fear is darkness; Love is light. Fear breeds repression and submission; Love breeds freedom. Fear makes us cringe; Love makes us open our arms. Fear breeds rebellion; Love creates harmony. Fear is shackles; Love is 5K's.
This cultivation of Love has continued ever since and only due to our Love towards Vaheguru, Sikhi has flourished and has become the 5th largest religion with 25 million Sikhs worldwide in a mere 532 years.
If someone says to you "We should be fearful of God", please recite them the verse of our 10th Guru:
"Jin prem kioh, tinh hee Prabh payeioh" - Only Love can create the connection to Vaheguru.
Only love can prolong the time span of Satyug for a Sikh. So as Sikhs we have the tools to enjoy the cherries and discard the pits. Now another question arises, what kind of tools a Sikh has to prolong his/her spans of Satyug?
Most of the religions believe that accountability is only after death, which makes one wonder that as we can take nothing with us when we die, how can we carry all the ledgers of our lives there?
This concept was created by a few, sitting cross legged on their high chairs using, once again, fear tactics so that all the ones needing brokers to seek ONE GOD would fall under their spell, which even happens now a days.
Sheikh Farid says in SGGS #1379:
Farida, char gavaieah hund kei, char gavaieah sun,
Lekha rub mangesiah, tun kerei aahoh kum?
Hey man, you wasted 12 hours( 4 pehars) loitering around and the other 12 by sleeping,
When your time for accountability comes, how would you explain what you have been up to?
Here Farid ji is talking about 8 pahers meaning 24 hours.
A Sikh has a 'Day book' which he/she opens when they get up. The book is closed shut when we recite Soheila at night:-
Deu sajan assissirian, jei hovei sahib seu meil.
Oh Vaheguru, give me the blessing when I am ready to meet you, in other words when my last breath is gone.
So a Sikh is born (consciously aware) when he/she wakes up and is ready to die when he/she goes to bed, unlike other religions of Kalyug where accountability is only done after death.
In the life of a Sikh accountability is must and it should happen with every breath we take, the same way a bookkeeper keeps track of every transaction in his/her day book. This accountability keeps us aware all the times that Gurmat Ideals act as catalysts, e.g. one can kill a person with a lead pencil or one can draw like Leonardo da Vinci. With the help of Gurbani we all are capable of becoming Leonardos, or better we are all capable of becoming Nanaks.
Hence, only by being accountable with every breath we take, we can enlarge our spans of Satyug, if not, we shall remain in the pits of Kalyug.
Tejwant
