Jump to content

A conversation between Guru nanak Dev Ji and a brahmin about Naam


Recommended Posts

From Sri Guru Nanak Chamatkar- https://www.vidhia.com/Bhai Veer Singh Ji/Sri Guru Nanak Chamatkar (Part 1)_English-Bhai Vir Singh.pdf

I found this beautiful and wished to share.

Brahmin: You have said, 'Remembering the Name'. We were already remembering the Name. Even the Panda was remembering the Name. Then, we were guilty, but again, you have asked us to remember the Name.

Guru: You were not remembering the Name. You were in a misgiving. Reciting the name for fifteen minutes or half an hour, how is it remembrance?

Brahmin: Is reciting the Lord's name not Name?

Guru: You recite the Lord's name. But you should have love for the Lord, whose name you recite.

Brahmin: How?

Guru: Before Name, first you have faith that 'He is there'. You think that 'He is there'. In this seen and unseen world, He lives, but cannot be seen. He is formless but He is 'all pervading'. He is the almighty Lord. He is the Supreme soul. We are also a soul. The Lord is not like earth. He is a living strength, a living Supreme soul. His actions, His thoughts, His ways, only He knows, because they are not like us. The waves of flight cannot be like earth.
Page 311                                                                                     www.sikhbookclub.com
302 SRI GURU NANAK CHAMATKAR (VOL -I)
He is the Supreme soul. We have a small soul in our body. If our small soul meets the Supreme soul, then, our small soul will become enlightened and we will remain in blossom. Otherwise, like an extinguished lamp, we will be in low spirits and the seen worldly desires will keep us in suffering. So, we should not remain in the forgetfulness of the Supreme soul. That is our prime religion. You understand the Supreme soul as the Lord and His name as Name. So, you should have love of the Lord while reciting His name. You aim that the Name we are reciting is of the omnipresent Lord. Now you think, when you name anyone, then, is your attention not drawn to the person? So, attention is the essence in the world. Wherever, you give attention, the work is done. Where the attention is gone, that work does not get through. The ploughman gives attention to plough and ox. He ploughs. A student gives attention to his education, then, he gets educated. But our attention does not rise above the seen world. We have to recite the Lord's name with love, so that our attention goes towards Him. So, the entire endeavour in drawing the attention of the mind from the seen world to the Lord is Name. When the attention is drawn towards the Lord's recitation, then, the incessant attention is called Name. This incessant attention gives a sensation of the Lord's name in the mind and gives ecstasy. The Lord's grace gives rapture. This is Name. In this way, dyed in the love of the Lord, one sees the Lord everywhere, in nature, in flowers and plants, allover. This is Name. Turning the attention from the seen world up to reaching the Lord and getting dyed in His love, we call it Name. Name is not repetition only. Name is repetition, recitation, remembrance, and sensation. Name is life. Name is grace. Name is body soul meeting the Supreme soul. Name is love, devotion, sensation, ecstasy and rapture. When we say Name, we see a heavenly light in recitation of 'Lord' by the tongue. We feel the sensation of the Lord in the mind, heart and body cells and get immersed in the love of the Lord in exuberance. Name is our attention towards the Lord and grace from the Lord. His showering of love, sensation, ecstasy and exuberance, this is Name.
Page 312                                                                                     www.sikhbookclub.com
303SRI GURU NANAKCHAMATKAR (VOL-I)
So now, you can judge the difference between what Name you were saying and this Name.

Brahmin: You are great. You have awakened my sleep. I thought, saying the Name with the tongue is like chatting, so that people listen and say, he is a saint. Then, I thought, the mouth should be shouting, the tongue should be moving, the teeth should be moving and the beads should be moving in the hands for a few minutes, is Name. Now, I understand that it is no use reciting by the tongue.

Guru: Again, you are mistaken. Recitation by the tongue is fruitful. Recitation is the function of the tongue. The tongue recites the words. The Name is also words. o dear, you understand everything again. Name is awaken-ness of the soul. The mind is enticed by the worldly desires and is in lifelessness. Awakening the mind and then remaining in that awaken-ness is Name. The body whether it is sleeping or awake has no meaning. The mind rises from the lifeless intoxication of worldly desires to soul awaken-ness and lives in the sensation of the presence of the Lord in his body. But the beginning is from 'the recitation of Name by the tongue'.

Brahmin: Then, you tell my mistake, so that I understand properly.

Guru: Your mistakes are two, one before this and one after. Before Name, you have to imbibe faith in the Lord. First, the Lord, then, Name and then, Lord. In the beginning is the Lord. In the end is the Lord. In between is Name. First, you have to listen to the praises of the Lord that He is the creator. He gives nourishment. He loves everybody. He loves that you live with him. He is always living. By meeting Him, we will get eternal happiness. To reach Him is our life's aim. To live with Him in this life is, our treading on the religious path. But we are in suffering. The cause of this suffering is, that we are living in the forgetfulness of the Lord. Everybody wishes to be happy and for that he tries to find happiness in the worldly desires and therefore, remains in suffering. The worldly desires are opposite of 'Remembrance of the Lord'. They are 'forgetfulness of the Lord'. The worldly desires are creating a distance between our inner self and the Lord. The true happiness is in 'Remembrance of the Lord'. When one wishes for true happiness, then, one turns his mind from worldly desires and tries to reach the Lord. When, one wishes to meet the Lord, then, one tries to
Page 313                                                                                     www.sikhbookclub.com
·304 SRI GURU NANAK CHAMATKAR (VOL -I)
understand the goodness and the praises of the Lord. One tries to understand the goodness of the Lord, because one cannot see the Lord, He, being formless. So, he thinks of the goodness of the Lord and forms an image of the gracious Lord in his mind and makes an aim to turn his attention to His name. So, your first mistake is, that you start saying His name without first understanding the goodness and graciousness of the Lord and without making an aim to tum your attention from the seen worldly desires towards the Lord. You have not imbibed the love of the Lord in your mind. With what devotion, you say the Name? First, you have faith and love of the Lord in your mind. Then, 'Recite the Name'. Think that He is the creator and He gives the nourishment. While reciting, make an endeavor that you are living in His presence and you have full faith in Him.

Brahmin yogi: Alright. It is fine (swaying his head). Then, once we have turned our mind and thoughts towards the Lord, then, what is the need for recitation by the tongue?

Guru: This is a point to note. If the remembrance of the Lord, Le. 'He is present' remains in the mind always or the attention towards Him, remains always, and you are in 'praise and love of the Lord' always, and you are getting a sensation of the Lord in your mind and body incessantly, then, it is fine, the Name will settle in the breath. But, 0 saint, this does not happen unless there is immense blessing. We do understand that 'He is present' and 'He is the creator and Saviour' and it is our aim to meet him, but we forget. Our mind does not get turned from worldly desires to the Lord at once. We may understand well but the mind does not deviate from worldly entanglements towards the Lord all the time. That is why we have to make an endeavor that the mind should not remain in forgetfulness. That endeavor, because we are a body, has to be a bodily effort. Now you understand that we have made one effort, that we understand well that 'He is there' and our aim is to turn our mind from the 'worldly desires' to 'remembrance of the Lord'. But the mind does not listen to us. So, we have to make an endeavor to turn this mind. Then we realize that the mind and body are influenced by each other. The mind gets the influence of the body, like, if you pluck potatoes with your hands the whole day, then, at night you will dream of potatoes. If the mind is sad and dejected then the body becomes lazy and weak. When we understand Page 314                                                                                     www.sikhbookclub.com
SRI GURU NANAK CHAMATKAR (VOL -I) 305
this, then we try to find the name of the formless God in words and put it on our tongue and we recite by the tongue: oLord, 0 Lord, 0 Lord, 0 Lord. WaheGuru, WaheGuru, WaheGuru, WaheGuru. When the tongue recites the Name, then it turns from the worldly things and its attention is drawn to the words 0 Lord, °Lord. WaheGuru, WaheGuru. Now, already we are in the understanding that 'He is there', He is present. He is 'all goodness'. He is the Saviour. He gives the nourishment. Already, we have made an aim to get engrossed in His remembrance. So, with this recitation, our mind immediately rises from the worldly desires and feels a sensation of the presence of the Lord in itself, Le. sublime consciousness. Recitation by the tongue is for this purpose only, that the bodily endeavor will make the mind rise and become sublime. Then, the mind rises further, immerses itself in the Lord's love and meets the Lord.

Brahmin: 0, it's wonderful. Guru: Our entire attention is towards the bodily attractions. You see, almost eight hours, we sleep. This is for the body comfort. Another eight hours is gone, in job or work for earning. This keeps the attention in bodily occupation. Rest of the eight hours is spent in laughing, playing, entertainment, meeting friends. That also, keeps the attention in bodily occupation. So, all twenty-four hours are gone, in attention towards bodily occupations. You tell now, how and when should the mind turn its attention towards the Lord? Whether somebody is educated or not but his attention is all the time in bodily chores. So, the gist is, that the attention has to be turned from the bodily attractions by some bodily occupation, and that is 'recitation of Name' by the tongue. In this way, slowly, the mind is turned towards the 'all goodness' Lord and after sometime, automatically, the Name makes the mind sublime and the Name settles in the mind.

Brahmin: Is yoga better than Name? Guru: There are many practices that take you towards the Lord. But for all of them, the requirement is to renounce the world. Everybody requires salvation. If everybody renounces the world, then, after some time, the world will finish.
Page 315                                                                                     www.sikhbookclub.com
306 SRI GURU NANAK CHAMATKAR (VOL-I)
The world may finish is one thing. But the experiences that one gets from each other, they help a man in rising. By renouncing one becomes devoid of these experiences. Then, one becomes alone. If everybody goes to the forests, then, from where will anybody get food? So, it is not possible that everybody may go to the forest and do penances. In this way, everybody will die of hunger. So, the path should be such that one remains in the world, does the necessary worldly chores, and then tums the mind towards the Lord. Then, slowly, one gets more and more attracted to the Lord and finally gets immersed in His love. Then, he can do his work with his hands and the mind will be in the love of the Lord. This is the path of'recitation of the Lord's name with love'. We have called it Name. To be immersed in the Lord's love is not a meeting of two in-animate objects. It is life. It is awaken-ness of the soul. It is a meeting of the body soul with the Supreme soul. This is real life. The person who has perceived the Lord living in him is really living. Those who have not perceived the Lord in them are in lifelessness. Name is an incessant remembrance of the Lord in our mind and an incessant love of the Lord towards us. That is a living'sensation and exuberance. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...