One of my friend sent me the logic behind education and What was the purpose of Gurus regarding Teaching. All the Saints those are indulged in education are not the Gurus (Teachers) but have adopted this profession to earn more and more. Kindly go through the teachings of True and Perfect Guru sent to me by a very close friend of mine.
Regards,
Rajneesh Madhok
Finding the True and Perfect Guru
This is “the quest” that all of us should be looking at because: all of our questions/problems; our search for truth; understaning ourselves, others, nature; merging in the One True Lord; ... all this can only be achieved through a True and Perfect Guru. So, a new list of questions come: What does a True and Perfect Guru mean? Do i really need one? Who is this True and Perfect Guru? What does he do? How do i distinguish between a Fake and imperfect, and True and Perfect Guru? Where do I find him?. Perhaps there are many more questions, but lets try to answer these one by one.
2.1 What does a True and Perfect Guru mean?
A very genuine question and needs to be answered before anything else. First of all, Guru means a teacher. So, anyone who teaches is a Guru, be it a math’s teacher, science’s teacher, history’s teacher, no matter who and what they teach. Even our mother and father are teachers as well, for they teach us etiquiettes, and how to speak, to walk, to sit, to eat and to read ... In short, there there are countless number of Gurus. Infact, every individual has hundreds and thousands perhaps countless Guru’s. How it is possible? To understand this next step, we have to go deeper. What does a teacher gives us? Certain Gyan perhaps, Yes, A teacher gives us certain Gyan and we learn and understand from that Gyan. The ways in which each individual learn and understand is different, but the Gyan from where each individual learns and understand is the same; thus, we can ascertain that the Gyan is a constant, even though there is innumerable kinds of Gyan, such as, Maths, chemistry, physics, Astronomy, history, geographic etc and there further divisions in each category. When someone starts teaching the acquired Gyan, does that make him a teacher, in present situation yes, because they call themselves teachers. In reality, every human being is basically a student, only a complete set of a certain Gyan can be called as a teacher/Guru; thus, if some individual has a complete set of a certain Gyan, i.e. he knows each and everything about it, then he/she can be called a Guru/teacher of that Gyan. The point is that it is the complete set of certain Gyan which should be termed as Guru/teacher, so if that Gyan exists in a book or in a human or in an email, whatever the source may be, the source of that Gyan should be termed as a Guru / teacher. Now, what are our sources of information/Gyan? Who knows, perhaps, hundreds and thousands of sources? We gather Gyan from everywhere: be it an email, a friend/person/family member talking, internet, books, letters, magazines, movies, songs... Therefore, we have countless number of Gurus whether we like it or not, the Truth remains Truth; whereas , we need only one and that too a True and Perfect Guru.
Second part is that of understanding the words True and Perfect. I suppose, everyone must have understood that these are adjectives used to specify someone or something in particular. True implies that Guru is always true, no matter which time-period. If we say something today which is a truth, then it should have been a truth 1000 years ago or million years ago, and it should remain to be true 1000 years from now or million years from now, in short that particular truth should remain the truth throughout the ages, time should not have any effect on its validity. Guru says “siqgur kI bwxI siq siq kir jwxhu gurisKhu hir krqw Awip muhhu kFwey ]”“satgur kee banee sat sat kar jaanhu gursikhahu har kartaa aap muhhu kadhaa-ay. Gauri Mehlaa 4, 308-5 ” or in English, The Banee(find an equivalent english word) of a True Guru should always be considered to be True at all times by his sikhs because the creator manifests himself through the Banee of a True Guru. Perfect implies that the Guru is without any kind of errors or mistakes, as said by Guru Jee “Bulx AMdir sBu ko ABulu gurU krqwru ]” “bhulan andar sabh ko abhul guroo kartaar. Siriraag Mehlaa 1, 61-7”. Not even a single one, a tiny-miny one. 100% perfect, as said by Guru Jee “pwrbRhm pUrn gurdyv ]”“paarbarahm pooran gurdayv. Gauri Mehlaa 5, 193-17” or in English, One True Lord whose limits/ends can’t be found or seen anywhere and Guru are perfect: 1) without any ego, pride, anger, lust, attachment, hunger of things/power and countless other such bad qualities; and 2) Full of Humilty, Love, Devotion, Happiness, Joy, Bliss, Satisfaction,Truth and countless other such good qualities. This is what a True and perfect Guru is and this is what we should be looking for.
This word “Guru” is very famous among Sikhs (the students) and we will find out that it is so for obvious reasons. Sikhs consider the book “Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee” to be their Guru or they consider that this complete set of True and Perfect Gyan dwells/exists in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee. If we go close to Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee, we will find that Guru Jee only gives us Gyan which Sikhs considers to be complete set True and Perfect Gyan. Infact, before Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee, the same Sikhs considered the ten human forms from Shri Guru Nanak Dev Jee to Shri Guru Gobind Singh Jee to be their Gurus as well, i.e. they considered that the same complete set of True and Perfect Gyan that existed in Shri Guru Nanak Dev Jee is now present in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee having passed through nine other human forms beforehand. It is true as well because Sikhs consider the Shabad of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee to be their Guru which gives them this complete set of True and Perfect Gyan.
We have just understood what does a True and Perfect Guru mean, and that Sikhs consider Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee to be their True and Perfect Guru or it is their choice to consider Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee to be their Guru and it does not imply he is the only Guru and that we should consider him to be our Guru. One True Lord has given free will to every human being and every individual has the right to choose. Note: We can choose, but we have no impact on the result or result is not in our hands and never will be. Are there any other True and Perfect Guru’s? How do we define such a Guru who is True and Perfect? For example, we can say that a book of Mathematics can be defined as a Guru of Mathematics if it has that complete set of Gyan that it explains and proves everything that is related to Mathematics. So, who is this True and Perfect Guru?
2.2 Who is this True and Perfect Guru?
Answer is avery simple one as explined by Guru Jee “siq purKu ijin jwinAw siqguru iqs kw nwau]”“sat purakh jin jaani-aa satgur tis kaa naa-o. Gauri Sukhmani Mehlaa 5, 286-12” or in English, the one who knows the One True Lord, is called the True Guru. So, we can say that a complete set of Gyan which imparts the awareness and understanding of the One True Lord: 1) where does He live; 2) who is He; 3) what does He looks like; 4) what does he do; 5) how we are related to Him; 6) what does He like; 7) how can we merge in Him; this endless set of questions. When this kind of complete set of Gyan dwells/lives/exists in a human body or in any other form, such as a Book, that form is known as a True and Perfect Guru. In other words, as we said earlier, the source of the information is Guru. Still a question perturbs the mind, is Guru Nanak Dev Jee-Guru Granth Sahib Jee or Krishna or Jesus or Mohammed or anyone else the source of this or any other information / Gyan? If we listen to Guru Nanak Dev Jee through Guru Granth Sahib Jee, we will find that he says all the time that he has been blessed with this Gyan from his Guru, for instance “gurw iek dyih buJweI]” “guraa ik dayhi bujhaa-ee. Jap 2-10” Or in English, Guru Nanak Dev Jee in Jap are saying that Guru has given me one understanding. So he is not the actual source, source is different: who is the Guru of Guru Nanak Dev Jee? Similarly, did Jesus/Mohammed/Krishna/Raam have a Guru themselves?
Let’s look at this from another perspective to confirm who this source is. Any Gyan that has been created, the source for that Gyan is always the one who creates that Gyan. We have to Keep this in mind and look at “siq purKu ijin jwinAw siqguru iqs kw nwa]” “sat purakh jin jaani-aa satgur tis kaa naa-o. Gauri Sukhmani Mehlaa 5, 286-12” or in English, the one who knows the One True Lord is called the True Guru. Now we look at “jyvfu Awip jwxY Awip Awip]” “jayvad aap jaanai aap aap. Jap, 5-10” or in English only He Himself knows how Great he is, only he Himself knows Himself. What we see is that True Guru knows Him and He Himself knows Himself, in other words, He Himself is that “True and Perfect Guru” that we are looking for. Guru explains this concept quite a few time, for instance: 1) “Aad Ant aykai avtaraa. Soee Guroo samjeheyo hamaraa. Baintee chaupaee patshahee 10, 9” or in English, the one who was present at the start of all this creation and the one who will be there at time of desctruction of all this creation is my Guru; 2) “jn nwnk kMau hir nwmu hir guir dIAw hir hliq pliq sdw kry insqwrw ]15]” “jan naanak kauN har naam har gur dee-aa har halat palat sadaa karay nistaaraa. ||15|| Wadhans Mehlaa 3, 592-7” or in English, the Lord-the Guru Himself has bestowed His Naam/Guns upon the people like Nanak and He Himself takes care of his followers in this world and next one.
It seems pretty clear from these examples that One True Lord Himself is the Guru and he blesses his Gyan on people like Nanak. Therefore, if we want this Gyan, then we have to become like Nanak, which is the only way out. True and Perfect Guru is One True Lord himself, he and only he can grant us His Gyan, Guru Nanak Dev Jee could only found this Gyan cause One True Lord granted him his Gyan. Guru Nanak Dev Jee-Guru Gobind Dev Jee saved and stored This Gyan in the shape of Guru Granth Sahib Jee, that we see today. Infact, any Gyan that exists in this universe belongs to One True Lord Himself. We can only find it based upon His wishes and likes. We can’t create any new Gyan, whatever Gyan that exists is His and only when He wishes to grant us His Gyan that we are able to find it. And What we do, we find it and we sell it to others? How can we sell something that is not ours? No Gyan is ours, all Gyan belongs to the source and there is only one source and that is One True Lord himself.
Now, we are better equipped to answer the question if there is more than one True and Perfect Guru. I suppose we know the answer which is No. If we still don´t agree, then we have to go back and look again. Lets try to find the answer, Guru is Gyan and Gyan comes from a certain source and there is only One Source for this Gyan of True and Perfectness, i.e. One True Lord himself, or He is the only Guru; though, he has manisfested himself through various human beings, for example, Bhagat Kabeer Jee, Guru Nanak Dev Jee to Guru Gobind Dev Jee, Bhagat Fareed Jee, Bhagat Ravidass Jee... It´s His decision to grant His Gyan upon us or not and He grants his Gyan only upon people who have become like Nanak. As said earlier, there is no other way out. Otherwise, millions of people have read Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee, do they have this Gyan? Most probably not, because most of them have not become like Nanak, if they all have become like Nanak by reading Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee, then it´s a different story.
2.3 What does he do?
Now that we have understood what does True and Perfect Guru means and Who is this True and Perfect Guru, we are ready to move forward and understand what does such a Guru does that makes him so special, that he is considered King of all Kings, that people give themselves up completely to him, that he is always ever smiling and in eternal bliss no matter what is happening around him, that he is so perfect when whatever human does is full of imperfections...
We know that Guru is a teacher, so it is clear that Guru teaches. Does he teaches mathematics/sciences/medicine/law? No, Here are few examples of what He teaches: 1) the reality/ the truth; 2) who we are, why we are the way we are and what can be done; 3) the objectives that “we” need to follow in order to achieve and accomplish this human body that is given to us, instead of circling around the needs and desires of human body; 4) to differentiate between the right and the wrong, Guru has assured that we know nothing about us/nature/One True Lord, which is in itself a certain truth; 5) where does One True Lord lives, who is he, what does he do, what he likes, in short each and everything related to One True Lord which automatically implies learning about nature (He is the creator and (in)directly (confusion about the word) related to everything that we can see, hear, smell, touch, feel); 6) how to correct ourselves and get out of the vicious circle by imparting the Gyan; 7) how to behave: talking, listening, eating, drinking, sleeping, walking, whatever, in short, how to become human beings; 8) how to get rid of haumai, the biggest and the most difficultest of all the problems that humans face; 9) how to be happy and satisfied; 10) how and why not to be afraid; 11) the True Gyan to get rid of all the doubts and anxieties (These are huge pains and have surrounded the whole humanity in itself); 12) what is Love (most of us will say that i know what is love (I Love my parents, my wife or husband/partner/girl or boy friend, my kids, my friends, my pets etc), but rest assured we don’t even know what is Love); 13) how to love (we don’t know this either)...
We can only list the things as per our Gyan which is limited, for we are completely ignorant, and full of imperfections and horrible qualities which effect not only us but others as well , for example, pollution of all kind, waste of all kind is a result of our imperfections and ignorance, endangered species, horrible crimes. There is no limit to such actions, wherever we may see, we will find ignorance and imperfections of humanity, although we consider ourselves to be the most advanced species on planet Earth, and we dont see the irony in it (How can we, ignorance keeps us blindfolded). This blindness of ignorance can only be uplifted with True and Perfect Gyan, not forgetting that their is huge, unlimited amount of Gyan present here and still we are ignorant; therefore, only a true and Perfect Gyan, which comes through people like Nanak, can save us. For sikhs, this Gyan is present in the shape of Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee; for others, i have no idea, if you think you know of such a Gyan, do test it. This testing methodolgy will be disscussed in “How do i distinguish between a Fake and imperfect, and True and Perfect Guru?”
2.4 Do i really need one?
If we are asking this question, then we are still better off than those who think that they don’t need a Guru, for they know everything. Thus implying that they know, what, why and how of everything that Guru teaches. When i was around 10 yrs old, i used to say, i know everything, i don’t need to study, but when the results came out, i found the hard way that i know practically nothing. Most of us live in these doubts that: we know what we need to do; we can do anything “Nothing is impossible”;i don´t need anybodies help to solve my problem, i am capable of achieving everything on my own; i am a self-made man; I will live life on my own rules; and what not. Guru Jee has clearly stated “Awpx lIAw jy imlY ivCuiV ikau rovMin]” “aapan lee-aa jay milai vichhurh ki-o rovann. Bara Mahaa Maajh Mehlaa 5, 134-4” &, “Awpx lIAw jy imlY qw sBu ko BwgTu hoie] krmw aupir inbVY jy locY sBu koie]3]” “aapan lee-aa jay milai taa sabh ko bhaagath ho-ay. karmaa upar nibrhai jay lochai sabh ko-ay. ||3|| Gauri Bairagan Mehlaa 1, 156-157” or in English, first part implies that if one could find One True Lord on his own then nobody should be crying in pain of separation, and in secod part, Guru Jee explains that Everyone will be considered lucky if everyone gets whatever they want; however, even if every one wants to be lucky, one’s destiny is unfolded based on the karma of past actions.
In any case, we can go to each question one by one and prove it that all these ideas are completely wrong, but there is no point cause these are the words coming out of an Ignorant, Egoistic person who is full of pride. Such a person will never listen to anyone, they can only learn the hard way; however, most often they don´t learn anything and stay the same egoistic and ignorant people cause they consider themselves to be knowing everything. It´s visicous circle, Only One True Lord/Guru can save them, infact only One True Lord/Guru can save anyone of us. So, it is clear and there is no doubt that we need a True and Perfect Guru to save ourselves.
Another way of looking at it is, whenever a kid starts walking, he/she invariably takes support for those first steps. This support can be in the shape of a parent or table or chair. Anywhere we may go, anything we may do, we alwasys need that initial help to help us getting started. We study to help us decide the field we want to work, these days one needs a formal training or education for no matter what one wants to do. One such example is sking. If we go sking and decide not to take lessons thinking that we can make it through the day without much problem; then we are in some serious problem, for people have broken their legs/ dislocated their shoulders or worse. One needs some guidance to make sure he/she can stop, turn etc. Without those tips, we won’t even be able to stay stand still, foreget about anything else. No-one can learn it, or as a matter of fact anything, on themselves, one may try and face lots of problems which can be really serious (One may say that we learn through our experiences, but to learn we need to learn how to think and analyse which we learn from our parents/schools etc, so nothing we can do or learn on our own right from the start up (a kid don’t even know how to sit, walk or eat, he learns everything here)). The point that is being conveyed is that guidance is a must, no matter whatever we are doing, especially in our inner self where there is complete darkness and light (Gyan) is needed to see, understand and implement necessary actions to reach our goal, as explained very beautifully by Guru Jee through Bhattan de saviyeye “gur ibnu Goru AMDwru gurU ibnu smJ n AwvY] gur ibnu suriq n isiD gurU ibnu mukiq n pwvY] guru kru scu bIcwru gurU kru ry mn myry] guru kru sbd spuMn AGn ktih sB qyry] guru nXix bXix guru guru krhu gurU siq kiv nl´ kih] ijin gurU n dyiKAau nhu kIAau qy AkXQ sMswr mih]4]8]” “gur bin ghor anDhaar guroo bin samajh na aavai. gur bin surat na siDh guroo bin mukat na paavai. gur kar sach beechaar guroo kar ray man mayray. gur kar sabad sapunn aghan kateh sabh tayray. gur na-yan ba-yan gur gur karahu guroo sat kav nal-y kahi. jin guroo na daykhi-a-o nahu kee-a-o tay akyath sansaar meh. |4||8|| saviyey mehley chautehy ke 4, 1399 16-19”.
If there are still some doubts left, then just look at what Guru Jee teaches us. If someone thinks that he/she is capable of achieving all these and many more teachings on their own, then you are most welcome to do it on your own. DO REMEMBER that this implies that you will not be reading anything or talking to anyone or listening anything. Close your eyes, Shut your ears and Sit in a room by yourself and start finding, if you can. If a child is kept in such a fashion, he will not have much of a clue of anything. We learn each and every thing whether good or bad here by listening, watching, reading, observing or in simpler words, whatever the Gyan may be, it is gained from something (books) or someone. We can’t create a new Gyan, we can only find the existing Gyan through different means or by chance. Moreover, we can only find it if One True Lord permits us to find it, otherwise we may struggle for years without any chance. Scientists and doctors are looking for the vaccination of AIDS for years without much luck; If we want to find it, then we should go to the one who created such a virus to ask for help. We can only find if He lets us to do so.
2.5 How do i distinguish between a Fake and imperfect, and True and Perfect Guru?
What we have understood till now is: 1) that anyone who teaches is a guru as per defination of the word; 2) that Gyan is Guru; 3) that there is only one True and Perfect Guru, i.e. One True Lord himself; 4) that this True and Perfect Gyan is manisfested by One True Lord himself through people like Nanak; and 5) that the person/book through which we observe this True and Perfect Gyan should be considered a True and Perfect Guru as well, for that person/book has become a channel of manifestation of One True Lord. Only One True Lord dwells in such a person/book; thus, directly implying that all the actions, no matter what, are the actions of One True Lord himself directly through that person/book.
There is, however, a very serious problem becaue, there are/could be some fake and imperfect people who are considering themselves and calling themselves a True and Perfect Guru, and this is a problem because a blind man can’t lead anyone anywhere as very wisely said by Guru Jee “gurU ijnw kw AMDulw isK BI AMDy krm kryin ]” “guroo jinaa kaa anDhulaa sikh bhee anDhay karam karayn. Raamkali Mehla 3 951-7”. We have to keep remembering that only a True and Perfect Guru can lead us onto the right path cause He knows the path, He has done it himself, as said by Guru Jee “ibnvMiq nwnk nwmu pRB kw gur pUry qy pwieAw ]4]2]” “binvant naanak naam parabh kaa gur pooray tay paa-i-aa. ||4||2|| Raamkali Mehla 5, 925-13”. Presently, there are innummerable people/books who are being considered equal to this entity of True and Perfect Guru. Should all these people/books be considered as True and Perfect Guru? Whether our answer is yes or no, who decides? How to judge to make sure that such people/books are indeed a True and Perfect Guru. There should be a method/procedure to find out because this thing has damaged the society in ways that should be forgotten and completely erased of our memory and a New Chapter should be started.
Before we commence the journey to find the method, there is another very important thing to remember is that a True and Perfect Guru is not only called a Guru, He is being called with many other names in different languagues and different cultures, such as Saint (Sant), Saadh, Holy Person, Divine person, Bhagat, Braham Gyani, Gyani, Har-Jan, Jan-Nanak, Dass-Nanak... Some examples from Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee “Bgq jnw kI brqin nwmu] sMq jnw kY min ibsRwmu] hir kw nwmu dws kI Et] hir kY nwim auDry jn koit] hir jsu krq sMq idnu rwiq] hir hir AauKDu swD kmwiq] hir jn kY hir nwmu inDwnu] pwrbRhim jn kIno dwn] mn qn rMig rqy rMg eykY] nwnk jn kY ibriq ibbykY]5]” “bhagat janaa kee bartan naam. sant janaa kai man bisraam. har kaa naam daas kee ot. har kai naam uDhray jan kot.har jas karat sant din raat. har har a-ukhaDh saaDh kamaat. har jan kai har naam niDhaan. paarbarahm jan keeno daan. Gauri Sukhmani Mehlaa 5, 264.” Or in English, these examples are just to show the various names with which a True Perfect guru has been called in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee. Today, if we do a search with these various name in google, we will find that there are plenty of people who call themselves or who are being called as Saints (Sants), Saadhs, etc. They literally use this title in the front of the name that is given to their human body. Are all these people True and Perfect Guru’s? A solution is required to find out whether they are or not. Let us go through different aspect to find it out.
2.5.1 Background/Family background
Background, still, has huge influence on people’s mind. A person is looked upon and judged, and sometime his fate is decided solely based on the his background. A very good example for this is that of Bhagat Kabeer Jee and Bhagat Ravidass Jee, both being born in so called “low caste” and thus never got acceptance from the so called “high caste Brahmins”. Nowadays, even the so called modern society states that a person born in the house of a King will automatically be a King/Queen, still being followed by “ENGLAND – a modern society” and people bow to such a King/Queen. A King or Queen is a special person and their orders need to be fulfilled ASAP whether those orders are right or wrong, it doesn’t matter. We may have some sort of so called Technological advancement, but within ourselves we are still the same fool and ignorant people as before, or perhaps we have become worse.
Background or Family background, however, has got nothing to do with someone becoming a True and Perfect Guru. If someone claims to be a True and Perfect Guru or enlightened one based solely on his family background, then he is for sure a Fake and Imperfect person. A very good example is that none of the sons of Guru Nanak Dev Jee became Guru. Guru Nanak Dev Jee didn’t find them fit enough to be titled as Guru, even though the lives of Guru Nanak Dev Jee’s sons were way better than any of us present today. Nobody can declare themselves to be the Guru, only a Guru can declare someone to be a Guru. In case of Guru Nanak Dev Jee, people called him to be the Guru due to his preaching, He never called Himself Guru, He just wanted to share the same Gyan that He has received from the One True Lord with everyone else. He wanted to share his treasure and He never asked anything from anyone in return, but if people wanted to share in return, then it was their choice. This is anothe important point of identyfying the Fake and Imperfact ones. Fake Guru’s asks things in return, their happiness and their blessing can only be received in return of some materialistic goods. For fake Guru’s, a rich and powerful person can spend more time with them compared to a poor fellow and these people automatically gets ahead in the queue as well, for they are in the so called priority list, a very good example is that of Sants and Saadhs in India and it can be seen easily. Another such example is of so called “Dalai Lama” who has fixed a certain sum of money to merge in him. Dalai Lama is a busy man and time is money. Guru Jee has very well said for such ignorant fools “mwieAw kwrin DwvhI mUrK log Ajwn ] khu nwnk ibnu hir Bjn ibrQw jnmu isrwn ]28]” “maa-i-aa kaaran Dhaavhee moorakh log ajaan. kaho naanak bin har bhajan birthaa janam siraan. ||28|| Salok Mehlaa 9, 1427” or in English, for the sake of Maya (Money, materialistic goods), the fools and ignorant people run all around, but Guru Jee says that, without giving-up Haumai and meditating One True Lord each instant/breath of life, life passes away uselessly. We are definately going from bad to worse.
2.5.2 Signs/looks/Actions of a True and Perfect Guru
Guru Jee clearly defines the True and a Perfect Guru’s actions as “so siqguru ij scu iDAwiedw scu scw siqguru ieky] soeI siqguru purKu hY ijin pMjy dUq kIqy vis iCky]” “so satgur je sach Dhi-aa-idaa sach sachaa satgur ikay. so-ee satgur purakh hai jin panjay doot keetay vas chhikay. Gauri Mehlaa 4, 304-4” &“slok mÚ 4 ]siqgur ivic vfI vifAweI jo Anidnu hir hir nwmu iDAwv] hir hir nwmu rmq suc sMjmu hir nwmy hI iqRpqwvY] hir nwmu qwxu hir nwmu dIbwxu hir nwmo rK krwvY]” “salok mehlaa 4.satgur vich vadee vadi-aa-ee jo an-din har har naam Dhi-aavai.har har naam ramat such sanjam har naamay hee tariptaavai. har naam taan har naam deebaan har naamo rakh karaavai. Gauri Mehlaa 4, 303” or in English, A True Guru is the one who Meditates on the One True Lord all the time (in every instant, with every breath, whether sleeping or working) and who has conquered the five passions:Kaam (Lust), Krodh (Anger), Lobh (Greed), Moh (Attachment), Ahankaar (Ego, Arrogance, Boastful, Pride) and who doesn’t depend on anyone else but God, and God takes care of them.
Another example of people like Nanak (True and Perfect Guru), those who know One True Lord (Barahm giaanee), is given in Sukhmani Sahib in the whole 8th Asthpadi “min swcw muiK swcw soie] Avru n pyKY eyksu ibnu koie] nwnk ieh lCx bRhm igAwnI hoie]1]” “man saachaa mukh saachaa so-ay. avar na paykhai aykas bin ko-ay. naanak ih lachhan barahm gi-aanee ho-ay. ||1||” or in English, Guru Jee says that signs of Barahm giaannee’s are: 1) that One True Lord dwells in their mind/heart (Mann); 2)that the words that are uttered from their mouths are manifestation of only One True Lord; and 3) that such people can’t anything or anyone else but One True Lord. Only One True Lord dwells in a True and Perfect Guru and nothing else(No haumai, no Ahankaar, no Maan, No Anger, no Lust, No Ego, No Pride...); thus, all their actions (walking, talking (each and every word), eating, sleeping, listening, working...) are manisfestations of One True Lord. We have to remember that whatever is present in someone, only that will come out, so in our case or in the case of a Fake and Imperfect Guru, there is only manisfestation of Haumai, Ahankaar, Maan, Anger, Lust, Ego, Pride etc because we are full of such horrible diseases. We have only these things and we can spread or give out only these things unlike a True and Perfect Guru, in whom all these horrible diseases are completely eliminated and is filled-up with only Naam/Guns of One True Lord. Important point to remember is that Guru Jee is saying that each and every thing is replaced with the Naam/Guns of One True Lord and that they are not empty. Getting rid of these diseases is as important as filling up with the Naam/Guns of One True Lord.
There are countless Guns (qualities) of One True Lord in a “True” and “Perfect” Guru and he/she never makes any mistakes; there are NO (ZERO) Avguns (bad-qualities, such as Anger, Lust, Pride, Arrogance, Ego). If even a single Avgun can be seen in someone, then definately that person/book is not a True and Perfect Guru. If there is any contradictions/lies or there is no coherence in the statements/words of a person/book; then, definately that person/book is not a True and Perfect Guru. In any case, if you don’t know or if you are not sure, then you should go to someone who knows about such things, as said by Guru Jee “jy Awip prK n AwveI qW pwrKIAw Qwvhu lieEu prKwie ]” “jay aap parakh na aavee taaN paarkhee-aa thaavhu la-i-o parkhaa-ay. Saarang Mehlaa 3, 1249-11”.
2.5.3 Signs/Looks/Actions of a Fake & Imperfect one
A True and Perfect Guru is not identified based on their looks, their family background (already discussed above), clothes they wear, in short there is nothing external that can be defined solely to identify to a True and Perfect Guru; on the contrary, a fake and imperfect is all about the External show-off. There is a very good example of such Fake people, doing their external show-off, through the baani of Bhagat Kabeer Jee in Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee “gj swFy qY qY DoqIAw iqhry pwiein qg] glI ijn@w jpmwlIAw loty hiQ inbg] Eie hir ky sMq n AwKIAih bwnwris ky Tg]1] AYsy sMq n mo kau Bwvih] fwlw isau pyfw gtkwvih]1] rhwau] bwsn mWij crwvih aUpir kwTI Doie jlwvih] bsuDw Koid krih duie cUly@ swry mwxs Kwvih]2] Eie pwpI sdw iPrih AprwDI muKhu Aprs khwvih] sdw sdw iPrih AiBmwnI sgl kutMb fubwvih]3] ijqu ko lwieAw iqq hI lwgw qYsy krm kmwvY] khu kbIr ijsu siqguru BytY punrip jnim n AwvY]4]2]” “gaj saadhay tai tai Dhotee-aa tihray paa-in tag. galee jinHaa japmaalee-aa lotay hath nibag. o-ay har kay sant na aakhee-ahi baanaaras kay thag. ||1|| aisay sant na mo ka-o bhaaveh. daalaa si-o paydaa gatkaavahi. ||1|| rahaa-o. baasan maaNj charaaveh oopar kaathee Dho-ay jalaaveh. basuDhaa khod karahi du-ay choolHay saaray maanas khaaveh. ||2|| o-ay paapee sadaa fireh apraaDhee mukhahu apras kahaaveh. sadaa sadaa fireh abhimaanee sagal kutamb dubaaveh. ||3|| jit ko laa-i-aa *** hee laagaa taisay karam kamaavai. kaho Kabeer Jis satgur bhaytai punrap janam na aavai. ||4||2|| Aassaa Bhagat Kabeer Jee, 476”.
To understand this Shabad, first of all, we need to get a picture of the background for this Shabad. Bhagat Kabeer Jee lived in times when untochability was at it high and Bhagat Kabeer Jee were born in so called “low cast of Hindus” in India. In this Shabad, Bhagat Kabeer Jee gives an awareness to the common people about the so called “Saints” in order to identify them and not to fall pray in thier hands. He mentions show-off that a Fake and imperfect person does to call himself a True and Perfect Guru/Saint/Sant/Saadh/... The show offs that Bhagat Kabeer Jee mention are: 1) They wear loin clothes of specific length of 3½ yard with triple wound sacred threads (In Hindu culture, when a person is “baptized”, they put a thread on him ( in a way as if we are marking a cross on our chest from neck to waist) and these people wear triple wound for showing that they have gone a step further then ordinary hindu or that they are better than others (inequality in itself)); 2)They have rosaries around their necks (to show that they are chanting the Name of the One True Lord all the time), and they carry glittering jugs in their hands (if someone wants to give something to them to receive their well-wishes (implying that they have a give and take relationship, whereas god only gives and never asks anything)); 3) They are such that they eat the trees along with the braches or in other words, once we have fallen a prey to them, then consider that they will take each and everything off us (they have no shame and they are full of tricks and they are ready to go any length to take everything off us); 4) They try to show how pure they are through their actions, here Bhagat Kabeer Jee gives the example such people washed their pots and pans before putting them on the stove, and they even washed the wood before lighting it and digging up the earth each time they cook food and making two fire places, to make sure that everything is pure around them (Such people may show a very high level of purity/cleanliness around them, but when we listen to them, watch their actions closely, we will find that they are not satisfied till they eat the whole person (in other words, take everything off them/robbing them completely) ). Finally Bhagat Kabeer Jee says that such people are Full of Pride and are ready to do any kind of deceit/crime to achieve their personal objectives. They are such because One True Lord has made them such (based upon their karma/actions which they continue to do over and over again), and thus they act accordingly. Anyone who falls prey to them completely loses everything. Only those are saved and achieve their objectives who find a True and Perfect Guru. A True and Perfect Guru is not in any show-offs. He has no pride, for He has given Himself completely to the One True Lord to be an Instrument of the One True Lord only. Therefore, a True and Perfect Guru can never be identified based on the external things / actions / signs / looks.
A Fake & Imperfect Guru only tries to immitate, and immitation can only be done on the outside because inside of a True Guru is known only to Him or One True Lord. A very good example is of fake Levi’s jeans or any other fake articles, in which the fake article try to immitate the original one and even puts a tag of the original on top of it, but the quality of the fake articles can never be matched up with the original one. Still there are many who buy fake articles knowingly and there are certain who buy unknowingly. Those who buy knowingly, there do it for showing-off, trying to satisfy their ego; whereas, those who buy unknowingly have done so because they could not identify the true one or differentiate between the fake and the real, and they repent afterwards. Identifying a Fake and Imperfect Guru/Gyan is important for our own selves, otherwise we are just wasting our precious time and effort, and we will be the ones repenting in end; therefore,we need to Be very Careful in finding our True and Perfect Guru.
2.6 Where do I find him?
I suppose everyone think that they know about this; normally, the automatic answer is the religious place, where people think they worship the One True Lord. Sikhs call such a place Gurudwara, Hindu’s call it a Temple, Muslims call it a Mosque and Christians call it Church. Almost everyone has been to such a place, but practically no-one has found a True and Perfect Guru. Even though, Shri Guru Granth Sahib Jee is present in all the Gurudwaras, most of sikhs are looking elsewhere in the deras of Sants or Saadhs or Giannis or Barahm Giannis... to find a True and Perfect Guru. Similar effects can be seen in Hindu´s or Muslims or Christians or Jews. Nobody knows where is the True and Perfect Guru or Lord. This just raises few more questions: Can a True and Perfect Guru be found in such a place? Is He confined to such a place or Can’t he be found anywhere else except these so called religious places? Both questions are inter-related, but lets us try to answer each of these one by one.
2.6.1 Can a True and Perfect Guru be found in a so called Religious place?
Answer is a complicated one, He is supposed to be found in a religious place, whether he exists there or not, that is a seperate question. Some one may ask, Why he is supposed to be found in a so called Religious Place? To understand this, we have to understand:1) what is a religious place; and 2) the real idea of creation of such a place. 1) A religious place is a place: i) where we learn worshipping and devoting ourselves to One True Lord who is True through all ages, Who was True before all creation, Who will be True after the end of all creation, Eternal, Creator of everything and everyone, Who dwells in his creation, Who is not afraid of anything or anyone, Who has no enimity, Beyond Time and Space, Not in Birth and Death, Who formed himself by himself, i.e. He has no mother and father, and Who is attained/found through a True and Perfect Guru; and ii) where like minded people gather to share their understanding and help each other. So, any place where there is a True and Perfect Guru(Who teaches us how to worship and devout ourselves to One True Lord, Who helps us find the One True Lord...), whether in a human body or in a book because Guru is Gyan, and like minded people gather, that place is a religious place. 2) Therefore, the idea of creation of a religious place is to spread the True and Perfect Gyan by Sharing it with everyone. This Gyan or as a matter of fact, any Gyan should only be shared and never sold because Gyan doesn’t belong to anyone, it is not a personal property as human beings think of, it is given to us or we receive it. Simple question is How can we sell something that is not ours?, but the beauty of sharing is that we can share any thing or Gyan that is given to us. (Sharing is a very deep topic and we need to think a lot to understand this better in order to implement it, and this is not the aim of this topic, perhaps another time.)
What we have understood is that the religious place is place where we learn Worshipping and Devoting ourselves to One True Lord, which works as per True and Perfect Guru orders and the idea behind such a place is to spread the True and Perfect Gyan by sharing. Any place, whether a home or so called religious place or human body or book or website..., which satisfy the above mentioned criteria is a religious place; otherwise, even the so called religious places are just building. These days, if we travel to the biggest Religious places (Rome, Amritsar, Varanasi, Jerusalem, Budh Gaya), we will find that those are more famous for Pilgrimmage (a concerned religious person needs to go to concerned places, WHY? Nobody knows) and sight seeing (Travellers), rather then worshipping the One True Lord. Same thing can be said for practically all the religious places in the world. Mecca doesn’t come in this list, but they don’t let anyone but a Muslim in. They vow towards that direction from anywhere in the world, as if One True Lord exists in that direction ony or they have caged One True Lord there. One True Lord is everywhere and in everyone, though we don’t see or feel or understand this because we are so lost in his beautiful creation of many colours and types and very few come to this understanding and, see and feel One True Lord everywhere and in everyone, as very well said by Guru Jee “eyk Anyk ibAwpk pUrk jq dyKau qq soeI] mwieAw icqR bicqR ibmoihq ibrlw bUJY koeI]1]” “ayk anayk bi-aapak poorak jat daykh-a-u tat so-ee. maa-i-aa chitar bachitar bimohit birlaa boojhai ko-ee. ||1|| Aassaa Bhagat NamDev Jee, 485-2”.
A place becomes religious due to Gyan that is being shared and spread there, and if that Gyan is not True and Perfect, then it is not a religious place either. Humanity have lost this idea of going to religious place to receive the True and Perfect Gyan, understand it and implement it in our lifes, that is why even the religious places are not religious anymore. It is upto us to make sure that a religious place remains a religious place and not for sight-seeing and pilgrimmage. Another way of looking at the religious place is that sikhs (students/learners) go to such a place to meet their Guru (teacher/Gyan) and learn from Him and share their personal experiences among themseleves. If either of it is not happening, then that place should not be termed a religious place anymore and a more suitable name should be found.
We have understood that in a religious place, we are supposed to find the True and Perfect Guru and that these days, most often or not, we don’t find Him because we are so much blinded by the incredible beauty of the creation of the One True Lord that we have completely forgotten ourselves and our objectives. Who is to blame: the Church father, Jathedar of Gurudwaras, Priests/Pandits of Temples, or Dalai Lama for Buddists or Pir of Mosques? NO, None of them alone, But all of us including them. We all have forgotten everything and we don’t want to do anything as per True and Perfect Guru order, we just want to do whatever we want. Everyone’s wants are different and entangled with each other; offcourse as a result, the chaos will be there and objectives will be forgotten. So, we still can’t answer whether a True and Perfect Guru can be found in a so called religious place or not and we will have to wait to answer if He can be found anywhere else out of the confinements of a so called religious place.
2.6.2 Can a True and Perfect Guru be found out of a so called religious place.
Offcourse yes, a True and Perfect Guru is basically a True and Perfect Gyan or Lord Himself and One True Lord exists everywhere and in everyone. This directly implies that this True and Perfect Gyan is everywhere and in everyone; however, the trick is that we are blinded by Ignorance. Ignorance is darkness, in darkness we can’t see anything and we are completely lost; thus, due to this darkness of Ignorance we are unable to see this True and Perfect Gyan or Lord everywhere and in everyone. Moreover, this True and Perfect Gyan is only blessed by One True Lord himself, nobody can find it on their own (A blind person can’t find something which he even don’t know where it is). What can a Blind person do? Hope to find a person who can See (who has the light of Gyan) and lead his way, or he can Pray to One True Lord to merge in him with such a person/book where this True and Perfect Gyan dwells. It is important here to understand that both the person and the book only gives Words/Shabad to us for listenting, understanding and implementing. Even if we know of such a Book or Person who has this True and Perfect Gyan, yet we have to listen, understand and implement the Words/Shabad of the True and Perfect Guru, otherwise we are just wasting away our lifes. In other words, the Shabad/Words of a True and Perfect Guru needs to dwell in ourselves or our actions (walking, talking, listening, playing, eating, drinking, sleeping. Praying...) have to be as per the Shabad/Words of a True and Perfect Guru, and we will have to lose/get rid of Haumai through the Shabad of a True and Perfect Guru. The beauty of Shabad acting as a True and perfect Guru is that it can be taken anywhere and everywhere with us and thus we will find that Guru Jee is everywhere and not just confined in a building which is known as a so called religious place.
We have understood that Shabads of a True and Perfect Guru acts as Guru themselves because they are doing the same thing as a True and Perfect Guru, and that Shabad Guru can dwell in ourselves and thus making a human body in itself a religious place. When only Shabad with True and Perfect Gyan dwells in a human body or in a Book then that entity can be termed as a True and Perfect Guru as well. Important thing to understand is that this doesn’t imply that there are two or more Guru Jee’s. Guru Jee is still the same True and Perfect Gyan: 1) that went into a human being as Shabad and brought changes by bringing the light in complete darkness and taking away the blindness of Ignorance; 2) which is now completely living in the human body or the book. This is the stage when Guru says that there is no difference between me or my respective sikh, as said by Guru Jee “gurU isKu isKu gurU hY eyko gur aupdysu clwey]” “guroo sikh sikh guroo hai ayko gur updays chalaa-ay. Aassa Mehlaa 4, 444-8”. This stage is not achieved by many and only those can achieve it onto whom One True Lord blesses this True and Perfect Gyan.
Summarizing, we can say that a True and Perfect Guru is definately not confined in the walls of so called religious places; infact, such a Guru can exist everywhere and in everyone as a Shabad of a True and Perfect Guru. A new questions comes: If Guru Jee are everwhere, then why do we need a so called religious place. Based on the present context, we have to understand that: the presence of a True and Perfect Guru is a must if it is to be called a religious place; and that we need such a place as a gathering of like minded people for sharing and singing the praises of the One True Lord as a Unit. Guru also teaches the importance of working in a unit, for walking alone is easy but walking with someone at the same speed in tandem is difficult and has to be learned in a religious place. Not forgetting that a religious place is religious only till everything there is being done as per True and Perfect Guru and not as per any father of Chruch, or Priest/Pandit of Temple or Jathedar/Sevadaars of Gurudwaras. In reality, it is the opposite, the care-takers of respective places start acting as owners and bring their own rules and regulation, knowingly or unknowingly/ willingly or unwillingly/whatever the reason may be, in the established religious place. This is happening all around the world in each and every religion; as a result many have become athiests (because the real objective was lost and some other things were being taught which perhaps didn’t interest many or perhaps everyone thought of living their own way instead of a priest’s way, who knows, reason could be anything) instead of acting towards it and doing what is right.
Now, it seems that we can answer the question “Where do i find him”. A True and Perfect Guru/Gyan is everywhere because He is One True Lord’s manifestation, and due to our ignorance we are unable to see and find Him. Moreover, there is this seperate identity of ourselves “Haumai” which makes us feel as educated and what not. In order to find the True and Perfect Guru: 1) we have to see, feel and observe that we are ignorant fools, stupid and completely illiterate; we have to feel this need and desire of a True and Perfect Guru cause we are stupid, ignorant fellows and are in pain, in other words we have to find out the reality “Who we are” to be with a True and Perfect Guru; 2) We have to pray to One True Lord himself directly from within ourselves and not through a third person (third person is normally a appointed care-taker of a religious place). This prayer has to be true and it should be our need and coming from Jeo/Atma (soul); 3) It is upto One True Lord to decide when, how and whether we will or not meet with the True and Perfect Guru, as said by Guru Jee “” “”. One True Lord is the wisest of all, He knows everything, His decision is always the right one, He never makes any mistakes, He Loves everyone equally for He has no enimity. Pray, find out who you are and let One True Lord decide what is right for you; otherwise, we won’t be able to see the True and Perfect Guru even if He is right in front of us and arround us all the time. Let One True Lord at work and Enjoy, we can’t find this pleasure, which we feel when we see and observe One True Lord at work, anywhere else. He is the most Wondrous of all, everything He does is Wonderful.
