DECEPTION OF PERCEPTION

 

We may be deceived by what we perceive. Reality may not bear out our illusions.There is a sea of difference between wakeful state and dream state. To a great extent our life is being governed by our dreams and that may be the reason for ever increasing incidence of frustration among people and fragility of relationships. Reality and Truth belong more in the realm of the Divine than in the mundane world that is under the sway of Mammon (Maya).Maya befuddles the mind, creates its own web of snares and leads man towards irrationality and at times insanity. A closeness with the men of God, the saints, the savants is necessary for redemption from such a situation having sorry consequences.

Guru Arjun Dev gives us a graphic picture of such a world in the following verse drawn from page 50 ofGuruGranth Saheb:

“ Mitha kar ke khaia kaura upajia saad “

Ate, what was thought sweet,

it turned out to be bitter.

Brother, friend, soulmate,

All form a hollow world of pleasures,

Take no time to depart.

All being deception,

Devoid of the Name of God.

Oh me,

Engage thou in the True Guru’s service.

What you see now will soon perish.

Counsel of your own mind,

you better not cherish.

Like a dog gone crazy, running in all directions

Being greedy, caring not

What is and what is not fit to eat.

Born again and again,

Dominated by lust, anger and conceit.

The web of delusion, spread far and wide,

Contains within the tempting feed.

The birds of desire enticed, caught in the net,

Can not now take flight.

Not knowing the One by whom it all is done,

Again and again one goes only to come.

In so many ways the world is ensnared.

He alone is saved for whom the Almighty cares.

Nanak is sacrifice unto those men of God

Who in Him are absorbed, and thus absolved.

——-Translated by Ashok Gupta

KABIR—-THE LAMP LIT IN THE HEART

 

Sufism has of late become popular and saleable in so many forms.Expedience has taken over experience.Frivolous has taken the place of fervour.The word "love",once so precious in Sufi parlance is now a debased coin.It is not derived from Islamic tradition as is generally believed because in essence it is a product of mystic experience and transcends any "ism" or any belief system.Thus Nanak and Kabir may be two persons but are ONE in Essence.

Here I am presenting a verse of Kabir which needs no explanation for those who know,and for those who do not ,no explanation will do.Taken from page

655 of Guru Granth Saheb,its first line is :

"Kia parhiye kia guniye,kia Ved Puranan suniye"-----

What use are didactics or dialectics

Or even tales from scriptures

If the inner Self is not known.

Hey,the ignoramus,

Why not meditate on the Name of the Lord,

In vain are you stuck in repetitive thoughts.

To get to that intangible,inner light is needed.

That Lamp has been lit in my heart

And now that I have got,

Which for so long had been sought.

Says Kabir---now that I have known

I am at peace with myself,

But what of those who do not believe

What I now know.

What can I do if this wisdom they forego !

———-Translated by Ashok Gupta

Let us drink to our heart's content straight from the founts of Love and Sufis and beware of the duplicate stuff that may look similar in words but be farthest in spirit.

DIE AND BECOME ALIVE

 DIE AND BECOME ALIVE

Guru Nanak Saheb in the 20th Pauri Of Manjh ki Var at page 147 of Guru Granth Saheb :

“Jeevadian maru mara na pachhotaiye”

To be saved from regrets later,

Better to die while you still live.

This world is a deception,

Whom to tell, who will believe.

None loves this simple truth.

All so involved in worldly pursuits.

Time, inimical, consumes all.

It keeps all under its thrall.

Death hovers over all.

Strikes one by His command.

He Himself plants love within a being

And then dwells therein.

When the time is up, no delay is brooked,

Contents poured out when the cup is full.

This, one understands by the grace of the guru.

And finally gets absorbed in Truth.

——-Translated by Ashok Gupta

Rick Steves' Cruising the Medeterrian

 Watched Rick Steves' Cruising the Mediterrrian on You Tube this morning.

Visited Naples, Nice, Athens, Rome and many other places. 

The staggering views of these ancient cities with beautiful beaches and market places are a treat for the eyes, mind and the heart.

Rick's commentries are very informative and interesting. His personality appears to be so pleasant. 

Kalam Dvat te Nanak ji

 

Guru Nanak Dev ji travelled thousands and thousands of miles during his lifetime along with Mardana ji and Bala ji.

He spoke to the gatherings about the Might of the Lord and sang His praises. Mardana used to play his Rabab along with.

Guru Nanak never collected money or food from any place or person during his entire life.

The only thing that he was fond of collecting and keeping with him was a note pad and pen and ink.

The Treasure included in Guru Granth Sahib ji was the collection that Guru Nanak Dev ji had with him and also his compositions. Later he had handed over all his pothis to Guru Anagad Dev ji.

Guru Nanak Dev ji’s true follower should always feel blessed to always look forward to knowledge from various sources. One should possess pen paper or now a days we can say modern days devices to either pen down the thoughts/quotes/ideas/poems or record them on their devices for future reference.

Rick Steves' Andalucia

Watched Rick Steves' Andalucia The Best of Southern Spain today. 

He showed various beautiful places of Soutern part of Spain which was highly impressive. 

The intricacies of the artists who built the palaces, buildings, cathedrials made me feel that the people in the past were more imaginative and had lots of patience to do so. Along with these the resources also must been availabe to them in plenty.

One thing that was painful to watch was how the Christian rulers destroyed many of the beautufl edifices built by the Muslims and in those places built their own places of worship.

We in Indian are generally used to the histroy in which the Muslim invaders had done the damage to the religious places of Hindus and had built thier religious places/

Human nature of the rulers is same all around irrespective of the religion they belong to.

Define the Moment

 When a defining moment omes along, you can do one of the two things, define the moment, or let the moment define you. 

The prevailing Covid 19 Pandemic time across the world is one such moment which is compelling many to fall pray. Getting infected at physical level by the virus and succumbing to it is one thing. But getting infected at mental level and then succumbing to it is totally unacceptable. 

We need to keep our mental faculties strong and not allow to get disheartened and scared of this virus.

Let's remind ourselves of all the past history of various pandemics that the human beings and survived. This pandemic shall also pass. We need to spend as much time as possible in enhancing our skills and read and listen as much as it is possible.

Let's imagine of the times to come in future when we shall tell our children and grandchildren how we survived this Covid 19 Pandemic.