5 August, Satsang By Param Sant Kanwar Sahbe Ji Maharaj
The real purpose of human life is to worship God and connect the soul with Naam. But before a person can move towards devotion, the impurities within must be removed. A heart filled with lies, anger, jealousy, hatred, pride, criticism and deceit cannot easily turn towards God.These habits do not disappear in a day. They have been growing within us for years, perhaps for many lives. Swami Ji Maharaj therefore said: keep attending satsang with patience. Slowly, the mind will begin to accept the truth.
A person may attend satsang once or twice and then stop because worldly habits are very strong. Ears used to gossip and useless talk may not enjoy the words of satsang at first. The mind likes what it has repeatedly practised.But when the taste for negative talk begins to fade, the mind turns towards Naam. The body receives temporary pleasure from worldly objects, comforts and enjoyments, but these things cannot satisfy the soul. The soul needs peace, love and true joy, and that joy comes only through Naam.
Satsang does not mean merely sitting in a gathering. It means listening carefully to the Guru’s words, keeping them in the heart, reflecting upon them and practising them in daily life. This is why the Guru’s words are considered a mantra.
Worldly advice may contain selfishness, greed or personal interest, but the Guru speaks only for our welfare and liberation. There is no selfish motive behind the Guru’s words. The same teaching may seem sweet to one person and bitter to another because everyone receives it according to the condition of the heart. A good person accepts good advice, while a person filled with negativity may feel hurt because the words reveal his weakness.
Guru Dronacharya taught both the Kauravas and the Pandavas. They lived together and received education from the same Guru, yet their lives became very different because their inner nature was different.
Duryodhana followed pride, jealousy and selfishness. The Guru never taught him to do wrong; the weakness was in the disciple.
To explain this truth, Guru Dronacharya once asked Duryodhana to find one truly good and noble person. Duryodhana returned saying that everyone was selfish, dishonest and greedy. He saw only evil because his own heart was filled with it.
A liar suspects lies in others. A jealous person finds reasons for jealousy everywhere. A dishonest person doubts everyone’s honesty. Truth needs only a few words, but one lie often requires many more lies to protect it.
Guru Dronacharya then asked Yudhishthira to find one completely wicked person. Yudhishthira was known as Dharmaraj because he valued truth and righteousness.
Even during the Mahabharata war, when he was asked to say that Ashwatthama had been killed, he refused to speak a direct lie. An elephant named Ashwatthama had been killed, so he carefully said that Ashwatthama was dead, but he did not know whether it was the man or the elephant. This shows how deeply he respected truth.
When Yudhishthira returned after searching the world, he said that he could not find anyone who was completely bad because he saw some good quality in everyone.
Duryodhana could not find even one good person, while Yudhishthira could not find one completely bad person. Both lived in the same world, but each saw it according to his own nature.
As is our inner feeling, so is our vision. A negative person finds faults even in a holy place, while a noble person can discover something good even in a difficult situation.Therefore, improve your vision. Wherever you go, collect good qualities and leave the faults behind. If you make fault-finding a habit, you will eventually stop seeing goodness.
Making a Guru is not enough. A true disciple follows the Guru’s command, discipline and principles. A person who accepts a Guru but walks against the Guru’s teachings gains little.
The Guru tries to raise the disciple to a higher level, but the disciple may fall by ignoring discipline. A teacher cannot be blamed if the student refuses to practise correctly. The Guru gives knowledge for the disciple’s welfare, but the responsibility to follow it belongs to the disciple.
The Guru guides every person according to his weakness. One may lie, another may cheat or steal, while someone else may be addicted to alcohol, meat, tobacco or another harmful habit. The Guru gives the right medicine according to the disease. But a sincere seeker does not need repeated warnings. His hunger is for spiritual knowledge, the Guru’s darshan and the Guru’s words. To him, every word of the Guru feels like a mantra.
If a person gives up alcohol, tobacco, abusive speech, dishonesty and harmful habits, he protects his children and inspires his relatives. He can clearly decide that such habits will have no place in his home. In this way, one true satsangi can improve not only his family but also future generations.
However, he must be a genuine satsangi, not one who follows satsang only for appearance. A person who attends satsang but continues to lie, gossip, cheat, hate and quarrel brings a bad name to satsang.
Before meeting the Guru, a person may live only for the world. But after receiving initiation and following the Guru’s command, his habits, thinking and priorities change. It feels as if he has entered a new world. This is the true benefit of satsang: bad habits begin to fall away, good qualities begin to grow, and the Guru shows the path of Naam, devotion and liberation.
Company has great power. In good company, good qualities develop; in bad company, even good qualities may be lost. Trees growing near sandalwood begin to carry its fragrance. In the same way, the company of saints and truthful people can transform even someone who has many weaknesses.
History tells us about thieves, robbers, cheats and violent people whose lives changed after coming into the company of saints. Satsang awakened the goodness hidden within them and led them towards spiritual welfare.
Many dirty streams flow into the Ganga. After joining it, their water becomes part of the Ganga. In the same way, when a troubled or sinful person sincerely enters the Ganga of satsang, he begins to become pure. His faults are washed away and his life receives a new direction.
This is the greatness of satsang: come, become truthful and remove the impurities within.
The principle of life should be: live and let others live.
Human birth is precious and difficult to obtain. It should not be wasted. We must understand the value of time because tomorrow is not promised. Many companions who once walked, talked and sat with us have already left this world. People with great power, ambition and worldly success also had to leave one day. We too must leave. Yet people live as if they will remain here forever. A wise person remembers that death is certain and even the next moment is not guaranteed. Life may end before a bite of food is swallowed.
Therefore, while we are alive, we should perform noble actions, remember God, practise Naam and help others as much as possible. When we work for the welfare of others, our own welfare follows naturally.