ALL ABOUT SIMRAN

[DHANBABANANAK]

THE REMEMBRANCE OF GOD I bow to the Adi Guru (Anami Purush, Swami) I bow to Jugad Guru (Sat Purush) I bow to Satguru (Shabda Guru) I bow to Gurudev (the living Master) In this hymn, Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj first of all bows down to the Almighty One. He says, "I bow down before the Anami (Absolute) Master, I bow down before the infinite Shabd Master, and I bow down before the perfect living Master." Do Simran; achieve happiness by doing Simran, Remove the afflictions of mind and body. The Guru lays great emphasis on doing Simran or the Remembrance of God. In the old days, the perfect Masters first required their disciples to perfect their Simran. Only after they had done that were they given the Sound Current. In the present time, the Saints have showered much grace on the soul: now They give Simran and initiation into the Sound Current at the same time - because in the days when They were giving the Sound Current only after the disciple had perfected Simran, what would often happen? Either the Master would leave the body before the disciple had perfected his Simran, or the disciple would finish his journey through the world before he could perfect his Simran and get the Sound Current. In either case, the work of the disciple remained incomplete. So in this age the Masters have showered much grace and are giving both the Sound Current and Simran at the same time, at the time of Initiation. Simran is the only means to reach the Dhunatmak Naam which we are supposed to catch. But we do not know the value of Simran, and therefore we do not put enough emphasis and effort into doing it. Because we do not know its value, we are not able to appreciate it. Simran has a lot of power in it, and only if our Simran is perfected can we catch the Dhunatmak Naam - the Sound Current that will pull us up. No matter how much or how loud the Sound we are hearing, that Sound will not be able to pull our soul up if our Simran is not perfected. So Guru Arjan says, "Do Simran, and do Simran." By doing Simran you will be able to get rid of the evils of your body - lust, anger, greed, attachment and egoism. By doing Simran you can easily overcome these evils. Remember Him Who sustains the world; By meditating on His Naam many got liberation. Now everybody is doing the simran of his work or activity. The shopkeeper is doing the simran of his shop; women are doing their simran, they are remembering their duties; the clerk is remembering what he has to do in the office. In this way, everybody is remembering the activities of the world in which he is involved. Because we are all involved in doing the simran of the world, we are always having worldly thoughts and we are always involved in worldly pursuits. That's why the simran of the world - the remembrance of the world - brings us back into the world. It does not allow us to become liberated from this world. But Guru Arjan says that you should do the Simran of such a Power which can liberate you from this world. By doing that Simran you will not have to come back into this world. The good pious words of the Vedas, Puranas and Smritis declare that the Name of God is the only true Word. The twenty-seven Shastras, eighteen Puranas, and four Vedas are the Holy Scriptures of the Hindu religion. Guru Arjan says, "I have read all these holy books and I have found only one thing: emphasis on doing Simran." One cannot get emancipation except through the Simran of the Lord. One in whose heart His Name is caused to dwell even a little bit - His glory cannot be described. The glory of Simran cannot be described. Even if one has done only a little bit of Simran, still the glory of that Simran cannot be described in words. Guru Gobind Singh Ji Maharaj says, "If one remembers Him with all his attention even for a moment, he also can become free from the clutches of Kal." There was an initiate of Master Sawan Singh who was a school teacher. He used to do Simran in the morning while going for his morning walk. Once he was so much absorbed in doing Simran that he did not realize he had walked for thirteen miles. Realizing that he had come so far, he asked how far he was from Ludhiana, the place where he was living, and was told it was thirteen miles. The people there wanted to arrange for his transportation back to Ludhiana, but he said, "No, I will go back with the same Power Who has brought me here. I still have the Simran which has brought me here." So when we are doing Simran, we should never remember our body; we should not have even a little bit of awareness of our body or our mind. Nanak says, "Liberate me with those who yearn to have Your darshan." Now Guru Arjan says to the Lord, "Oh Lord, bless me with the company of those who have the desire of getting Your company and those who have become one with You - so that I may also get liberation by being in the company of those who have become one with You. Just as iron floats on the water if it is accompanied by wood, if You will bless me with the company of those who are one with You, I will also get liberation." The Ambrosial Naam of the Lord is the jewel of happiness which resides in the devotees of the Lord. This bani or writing, which is called Sukhmani or "The Jewel of Happiness," does give happiness to the mind, but only because it sings of that which is the real Jewel of Happiness, the Naam of the Lord, Who resides in the devotees of the Lord. By doing the Simran of the Lord, one does not return to the womb; By doing the Simran of the Lord, the fear of Yama runs away. This is the importance of Simran: by doing Simran, we do not have to come back into the womb of the mother again, we do not have to take birth in this world again. Further, the Angel of Death cannot come near us; we become free from the fear of him. If we do Simran, we can become free from the problems and pains of this world also. By doing the Simran of the Lord, Kal cannot approach; By doing the Simran of the Lord, the five Enemies go away. If we are doing Simran, Kal does not come near us, because, behind the Simran given by the perfect Master, the charging and the Power of the perfect Master is working. The perfect Masters do not give us the Simran which they have heard from others; they give us the Simran which they have meditated upon and perfected. Behind the Simran given by the Masters the strength of the Master Power is working. By doing such Simran even our enemies leave us. Our greatest enemy is the mind which is residing within us; if we are doing Simran, the mind comes under our control and we can easily dominate it. Guru Nanak says that by doing the repetition of the Name of the Lord our mind - which is wandering here and there, very swiftly, like a deer - comes under our control - if we are remembering the Name of the Lord. By doing the Simran of the Lord, no obstacles come; By doing the Simran of the Lord, one remains awake day and night. If we are doing constant Simran, we will not have to face any obstacles and our body will not have any pain. If we are doing constant Simran we wake up in Simran and sleep in respect to the world. Everyone knows how sleep bothers the dear ones. Sleep is dominating us very much; that's why it is a problem. But if we wake ourselves up in the Naam, then there is no problem. Those who wake up in the Naam, even if they do not sleep for three or four nights, will not have any problem, because Naam has such strength, such power in it. By doing the Simran of the Lord, fear is not felt; By doing Simran, pain does not affect us. By doing Simran our will power gets increased and whatever fear of the world we have goes away. We have fear of the world only as long as we are doing bad deeds, as long as we are involved in sin. But once we manifest the Truth within us, and once we realize what the Truth is, and once our will power is increased, we need not be afraid of the world. Once we attain that condition, we always see the world as Lord and God. Because we have recognized the power of God, we need not be afraid of the world. The Simran of God resides with the true devotees; Nanak says, "The devotion of the Lord is the treasure house of all riches." Can we get the Simran by ourselves? Can we achieve Simran by our own efforts? Guru Arjan says, "No, you cannot achieve Simran by yourself." If you will go in the company of a perfect Master, a perfect Sadhu, and if that perfect Master or Sadhu is gracious on you, and if graciously He gives you the Simran on which He has meditated and which He has perfected, only then will you be able to have it. This Simran is the abode of all happiness, and by doing it one gets the happiness of all the world. Kabir Sahib says, "O Kabir, in the company of the Sadhu, God is remembered. Only the moments which we have spent in the company of the Masters are counted. All other moments are wasted." By doing the Simran of God one gets supernatural powers and the nine treasures. By doing the Simran of God one gets knowledge, meditation and understanding. If we are doing Simran, the supernatural powers come under our control. But the Satsangis are told not to use them: those who are doing the meditation on Naam, the supernatural powers are their slaves. By doing Simran, knowledge comes within us. What knowledge? The knowledge of God: that God is all-pervading and is working within us. The Simran of God is worship, repetition, austerities; By doing the Simran of God, duality vanishes. If we are doing constant Simran, we are getting the benefits of repetition (japa), performing austerities (tapa), and all the rites and rituals. If we are doing constant Simran, the sense of duality leaves from within us, and we see God working at every place. When we see God working at every place we do not call anything bad or good. Guru Nanak says, "O Lord, when You have made all this creation, whom can we call the bad ones?" We see God working in everybody; for us, God is everywhere; for us, God is good. One who does the Simran of God is the real pilgrim; One who does Simran is honored in the court of the Lord. In India, people go to holy places and bathe in holy water to remove the dirt of the sins which they are carrying. There are many temples and holy places, and at each one of them there is a pond of water, and of each one it is believed that whoever bathes in that particular holy place will become free of sin. But Guru Nanak says about those places that the so-called "holy waters" also want some Saint to come and put his feet in the water. That water is carrying the sins of all those who come and bathe there, and it is longing for the dust of the feet of the Master, so that it can become free of the sins of those people. The truth is, as Guru Arjan says, that those who are doing the Simran of God, get the benefit of bathing in all the holy places and of all the pilgrimages while they are sitting at home. If one is doing the Simran of the Lord, he is given respect in the court of the Lord. One who does the Simran of God gets all things done in a good way. One who does the Simran of God reaps the fruit. It is always good for us to do the Simran of the Lord. When we do the Simran of the Lord, He always gives us the benefits. Only those who are made to do His Simran, do it; Nanak says, "I touch their feet." This is a matter that requires great understanding: when we know how important it is to do Simran, when we know its value and what we get from doing it, when we know it is so beneficial, why can't we do it? By listening to talks on the importance of Simran, everybody will feel like doing it, but Guru Arjan asks, "Is it possible for everyone to do Simran?" and replies, "No, it is not possible. It is not in our control to do Simran unless God showers grace on us. Only he can do the Simran of God on whom God showers grace." Guru Arjan, in another place, says, "O Lord, if it had been in our hands, then why would we have gone away from you? Now when we are weeping in Your separation, if it were in our hands why would we be separated?" Hazur Maharaj Kirpal Singh Ji used to say, "It is not in the hands of the blind man to go and touch the man who has eyes; unless the man who can see calls the blind one to come and take his hand, he cannot do it. In the same way, unless God showers grace on us, and links us in the company of those who have done Simran, and unless he gives us Simran through a perfect Master, we cannot do it." If we are fortunate and if God wants to shower grace on us, then He brings us in the company of such a Mahatma. And when that Mahatma or Master gives us the Simran in all His grace and glory, and when He makes us do that Simran, only then can we do it. Otherwise it is not in our hands. The Simran of the Lord is the highest; By doing the Simran of the Lord, many have swum across. Those who are doing the Simran of the Lord go to the highest place: Sach Khand. And by doing the Simran of the Lord, they bring many other souls to that place. Kabir Sahib says, "Even a leper, from whom a bad smell is coming, who is doing the meditation of Naam is better than one who has a body of gold who is not doing the Simran." By doing the Simran of God the desires are extinguished; By doing the Simran of God everything is seen clearly. The desires which have made us a mad dog, and are leading us like a mad dog - taking us here and there - if one is doing the Simran of the Lord, even if he is ridden with desires, he gets contentment and all his desires and madness go away. Those who achieve this come to know everything - that is, they come to have the knowledge of the Lord. They know that except God there is nothing. By doing the Simran of God the fear of Yama goes away. By doing the Simran of God all desires are fulfilled. If we are doing the Simran of God, the Angels of Death cannot stop our course, cannot frighten us, and cannot give us any trouble. If we are doing the Simran of the Lord, whatever desires or needs we have in this world, He fulfills; and we become free of all desires. By doing the Simran of God the dirt of mind is removed, And the Nectar of Naam dwells within us. By doing the Simran of the Lord, our mind, which is laden down with dirt from ages and ages, becomes free from it; the dirt is washed away. By doing the Simran of the Lord, the nectar of Naam starts flowing within us, by drinking which our soul becomes immortal. God resides on the tongue of the Saint; Nanak says, "I am the servant of the servants of God." Guru Arjan Dev is asking: Where does God reside? Does He reside in America or Africa, or any other country? Does He reside in any city or village or town? Does He reside in a temple or church, or any other holy place? Tell me, where does God reside? If He were residing in the churches, the Christian priests would have found Him; If He were residing in the temples, the Hindu priests also would have found Him; If He were residing in the Gurdwaras, the bhais or the Sikh priests also would have found Him. Then there would have been peace all over the world: the problems which we now have regarding religions - the conflicts which one religion has with another - we would not have seen. People would not hate each other, or care about the difference of black and white. But this is not the way of the world: everywhere people are fighting in the name of religion; everywhere injustice prevails. Guru Arjan replies to His own question. He says that God resides on the tongue - that is, in the words - of the Sadhu. That is why Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj says, "I am the servant of such Masters in whose words God is residing." Kabir Sahib also says, "I am the servant of those Sadhus who have controlled their minds." Kabir Sahib says in another place, "My mind became a bird and went into the heavens. To my surprise I saw that the heavens were empty and God was residing within the Saints." Guru Nanak says, "God always resides in the human form of a Saint. Whenever He wants to come into this world, He takes on the form of a Saint. He comes as a human being and resides in the world." Those who remember God are truly wealthy; Those who remember God are truly honored. Who is wealthy? Who is honored in this world? Only those who meditate on the Naam of the Lord and who do the Simran of the Lord are wealthy, and only they are truly honored. Neither the riches of this world nor the honors of this world will go with us. Only the meditation of Naam and the Simran of the Lord will go with us. That's why Guru Arjan calls those who are doing the Simran of the Lord the wealthy ones and the honored ones. Those who remember God are welcomed; Those who remember God are the highest men. Those who remember the Lord constantly, who are doing the Simran of the Lord constantly - only they are well-respected, only they are welcomed in the Court of the Lord, and only they are given the highest places in the Court of the Lord. Those who remember God are independent; Those who remember God are the rulers of all. Those who remember God become independent; they do not remain dependent on others. They are the only true kings in the world, because they rule over the hearts of the people. Those who remember God dwell in the real happiness; Those who remember God become indestructible. Those who remember the Lord constantly become the abode of happiness, and they become indestructible. They never come to an end. Guru Nanak says, "My Satguru always remains in life. He never comes, He never goes. He is the indestructible Person, and He is all-pervading." Only those upon whom He showers grace get attached to Simran - Nanak prays for the dust of their feet. Guru Arjan says that He longs for the dust of the feet of those who have applied themselves to Simran, and those who are doing Simran day and night. Those who remember God are the true philanthropists; I sacrifice myself on those who remember God. One who does the Simran of the Lord, or one who repeats the Name of the Lord, becomes the true benefactor, or philanthropist; he works for the benefit of other people in this world. Now this is very important to understand properly: Who truly helps others? Who can really be called a great benefactor? Master Kirpal Singh used to explain this by giving the example of a prison. Suppose there is a prison in which there are many prisoners who are in poor condition. One good man comes there and he sees that the condition of the prisoners is not good; they are not getting good food, and their health is not being taken care of. So he donates a lot of money to the prison, and arranges for good food and medical care for them. He has done a very good thing for the prisoners; but still they remain prisoners. Another benefactor comes and observes that in winter there is no heat, and they don't even have good blankets or bedding. So he also spends money and provides them with blankets and bedding. In this way, he has also done a good job for the prisoners; but still they remain in the prison. Another benefactor comes and sees that in summer it is very difficult for the prisoners, because there are no fans and the ventilation is poor. So he spends money and puts in fans and a ventilation system. He improves the condition of the prisoners; but still they remain prisoners, still they are in jail. One more benefactor comes there, and he has the key to the prison. He says, "Come on, dear ones! I have the key to this prison and I am opening this door for you. Those who want freedom, just go out." If we compare the actions of all four benefactors, we will come to the conclusion that the one who had the key to the prison was the most effective - because he set the prisoners free. The other ones no doubt did good things for the prisoners, but they were only able to improve the condition of the prisoners as prisoners; they could not completely change their condition and set them free. In the same way, in this world we may find many philanthropists or benefactors who work for the benefit of the people. But only the Master Who has Naam with Him can be called the Great Benefactor, because only He has the key to our freedom. If He showers grace on us, we can become free from the miseries of the world. Only the Master who has the key of Naam, the key to the Court of the Lord - only He can set us free from this prison of the world. Because this world is a big prison, maintained by the Negative Power, in which we are all suffering. Only the Satguru has the key, and only He can set us free. Kabir Sahib says, "The river flows for the benefit of others, not itself; the trees bear fruit for the benefit of others, and the rain showers water for the benefit of others. The Saints also take up the body and come into this world only for the benefit of others; they don't have any other purpose." Ever since our soul was separated from God it has taken up the bodies of animals, trees, and many other forms of life; but He comes into this world taking up the human body only for the benefit of our soul. So Guru Arjan says here that those, the Masters or the Saints, who do the Simran of the Lord, within them comes the power of working for the benefit of others. And, He says, I sacrifice myself on them, and I sing praises of those who have become the form of the Lord by doing the Simran of the Lord. The faces of those who remember God are bright; Those who remember God live happily. In the court of the Lord, the only faces which are glorified and respected are those of the souls who are doing the Simran of the Lord. Those who do the Simran of God have conquered themselves; Those who do the Simran of God are pure and true. Now Guru Arjan tells us what the power of Simran is, and up to what point Simran can carry us. Only through Simran can we withdraw our attention from the body, and concentrate it at the eye-center. When we do Simran we start cutting ourselves off from the world; and when we withdraw all our attention from the body and bring it to the eye-center - when all our consciousness is gathered there - we will cross the stars, moon, sun, and then we will come to the Radiant Form of the Master. Master is always waiting for us. As soon as we cross the stars, moon, and sun, we will meet Him. That form of the Master will tell us to catch the Shabd Dhun and He will take us above. But Simran is the only thing which can take us up to the Radiant Form of the Master. The Guru says that by doing the Simran of the Lord one conquers the world, because when the mind is conquered, the world is conquered. If we conquer our mind by doing the Simran of the Lord, we can bring even the creator of this world into our control. Those who remember God, their happiness is dense; Those who remember God live near Him. If there is any real pleasure or happiness in this world, only the people who are doing the Simran of the Lord have it. God is very near to those who do His Simran. Once there was a king who had several queens, and they were all bathing him. One of the queens was weeping because she had received a letter from her brother saying to come and see him if she wanted, because after a week he was going to become a Sadhu. She was very sorry to learn that, and while she was wiping the water from the body of the king tears fell from her eyes and the king asked the reason. She told him, but the king said, "You should not worry about him; he is not going to turn into a Sadhu. Those who become Sadhus do not invite their relatives, nor do they announce it ahead of time. Those who become Sadhus do that without letting anyone know. So you do not need to worry about him." (Baba Sawan Singh Ji used to say, "Those who are shot by the bullet of love become useless for the world. For them no accounts of the world have any meaning.") Then the king said, "Those who have the yearning for God do not tell people that they are going to leave this world. As soon as the yearning comes within them, they just leave. When we have the desire to get Naam, the yearning comes to us. And the real yearning comes only when Naam is manifested within us." The queens wanted to know what this yearning was, and the king told them, "All right, I will show you." From then on he stopped looking at the queens with thoughts of lust; he completely withdrew from the pleasures of the world. The queens complained to him and asked him why. He replied, "A girl plays with dolls as long as she is not married. When she gets married to her husband, she stops playing with dolls because she has a husband and she plays with him. In the same way, a soul plays with toys or worldly things as long as he has not realized the real thing. When a soul gets attached to the Shabd Naam, that soul finds no pleasure in worldly things and even if one offers him gold and all the riches of the world, still he will never be ready to enjoy worldly pleasures - because he has realized the real pleasure of Shabd Naam." Now the king was pretending that he had realized the Shabd Naam and had become a Saint; so the queens told him, "You are pretending that you have attained the Supreme Bliss and therefore you don't want to enjoy worldly pleasures. But we are afraid that you are going to repent - like the crane who wanted to leave eating fish and act like swans do!" They were referring to a story of a crane who came to a place where swans were living, and he saw that they were not eating fish - because swans do not eat fish, and cranes do, although they look alike. When that crane saw that the swans were not eating fish and were drinking coconut milk, he tried to break through the coconut and drink that milk; but he couldn't do it. The crane's companion told him that he should not try to drink coconut milk, because the beak of a crane is not as strong as that of a swan; if he tried too hard he might break his beak and then he wouldn't be able to even eat fish! But the crane thought that there was no difference between him and the swan, and he kept on trying. In the beginning he drank some of the milk which had been spilled, and he told his companion, "We have been uselessly wasting our energy in eating those fish. This is the only thing which we should drink." But his companion said, "You should not think about it, because you can never drink that milk. Even though you look like a swan, you cannot drink the milk, because you do not have that beak. And if you don't eat the fish, you will neither be a swan nor a crane. So forget about it." But he didn't take the advice of his companion. Daily he came to the place where the swans were drinking milk out of coconuts. One day all the swans left and in their absence the crane tried to break open a coconut and drink the milk. But he couldn't do it, because his beak was not as strong as theirs; his beak broke, and he was not even able to catch fish. He couldn't eat or drink anything, and he eventually drowned himself in the ocean. Our condition is also like the crane's. We come to the Satsang, and we see that Master is just like us - he is also a human being - and when he talks about Shabd Naam and all these things, we think, what is the difficulty in experiencing such things? When we come in the company of the Saint, we also try to pretend that we are Saints and not less than Him. But then we are easily overcome by lust and other things and we let ourselves go in their direction. Sometimes we come into the Satsang and pretend we are good people; but because we are not completely saintly, we can neither enjoy worldly pleasures nor can we realize the real taste of Shabd Naam. Guru Nanak says, "We, the worldly people, are hanging between these two things: we are neither saintly nor worldly." When we come into the company of the Saints, we want to become Saints. We say, "What is the difference between me and the Master?" But there is a great difference, because the Master has done the Simran of the Lord, and within Him, God has kept that power of recognizing the Shabd. Whereas God has not kept that within us; we have to earn it. That is the difference between us and the Saint. Mahatma Charan Das Ji says, "The crane looks very beautiful, and he pretends he is doing the devotion of God by standing on one foot. But in his mind he has the desire to catch fish. When he has such a desire, how can he expect to meet God?" By the grace of the Saint one remains awake day and night; Nanak says, One gets Simran only if he has good fortune. If we have good fortune and we come in the company of the Saint, why do we have to remain awake? Guru Arjan says, "We have to remain awake in remembrance of the Lord." He says, "Remain awake in the name of the Lord." Guru Nanak says that when our good past karmas come to fruition, we meet a God-realized soul. And when we meet such a soul, we wake up from the sleep which we have been in for ages and ages. By doing the Simran of God, all works are accomplished; Those who remember God never repent and never have pain and grief. If we are doing the Simran of the Lord, then all the works which we are supposed to do in this world are taken care of; they are all done. And up to now, those who have done the devotion of the Simran of the Lord have never repented. There is an incident in the life of Bhagat Namdev, Who was a perfect Saint. He was in the business of selling cloth: along with his brothers, he made cloth and went to the market to sell it. But because he was in remembrance of the Lord, instead of going to the market and selling the cloth, he would remain in deep meditation: he was not able to do business as his brothers did. Whenever he came back, his mother and the other members of his family would get angry at him. They would even inspire his wife to fight with him, because he was not doing well at his business. Once it so happened that he came back from the market without selling any cloth and his wife got angry and said, "If you couldn't find any customers who would give you cash for the cloth, you should have given it to somebody on credit. Sooner or later he would have given us the money. But you should have done some business, either cash or credit." He said, "All right; if you want me to give this cloth to someone on credit, I will go find a customer right now." It was night time, and there was no one outside his house to buy his cloth; so he took the cloth and draped it all on some stones, and said, "All right: I am giving you this on credit and after some time I will come to collect the money." For security he took one stone from that place. When he came back, everyone was surprised and asked him, "How come you came back so soon?" He said, "When I went out of the house, I found many customers waiting for me; they all wanted the cloth on credit. I have given it to them, and I have brought this as security." Then he sat in meditation, and for one week he was continually connected with the Lord. When he got up from meditation, everyone told him he should go and get the money for the cloth which he had sold on credit. He said, "Don't worry. I will get the money." He took out the stone which he had brought as security, and he found that that stone had turned into a piece of gold. So he said to his relatives, "Subtract the cost of the cloth from this piece of gold, and leave the rest with me." Because he was doing the devotion of God - the Simran of the Lord - God took care of his business, and hhee turned the piece of stone into a piece of gold. This happened only because he was doing the Simran of the Lord. One who does the Simran of the Lord, completely, all his works are done by God Himself. By doing the Simran of God, one's speech is devoted to praising God; By doing the Simran of God, one absorbs himself into the state of Sehaj. If we are doing the Simran of the Lord, and the devotion of God, our speech becomes very sweet. It becomes such that we can liberate many souls; it becomes pleasing to everyone; and we achieve the state of Sehaj. By doing the Simran of God, one gets the immovable seat; By doing the Simran of God, the lotus blossoms. By doing the Simran of the Lord, we achieve a place that never falls in the dissolution or the Grand Dissolution; that is, Sach Khand. We become the resident of Sach Khand if we are doing the Simran of the Lord and our inner lotus blossoms; peace comes within us if we are doing the Simran of the Lord. By doing the Simran of God, one hears the limitless melody; There are no limits to the happiness of doing Simran. Simran is the means of withdrawing from the nine openings of the body. We get liberation - we go up - only by catching the Sound Current; but unless we do Simran, we cannot vacate our body and contact the Sound Current. Nobody can know the limits of the happiness of Simran. Only those who are doing Simran and have realized the perfection of Simran, can know how important it is to do Simran. Those on whom God showers grace do the Simran of God; Nanak says, I am in their shelter. Who can do the Simran of the Lord? Only those on whom God is gracious; only those with whom God is pleased; they can do the Simran of the Lord. He says, "I long for the dust of the feet of those who are doing the Simran of the Lord. I have taken shelter with them." The devotees are remembered because of the Simran of God; Because of the Simran of God, the Vedas were composed. What is the power of Simran? What has Simran done in this world? The devotees of the Lord who have come into this world and have liberated souls, were able to do so only because they had done Simran. When Kabir was on this earth, there was a king who was very popular and very powerful. His name was Sikandar Lodi. Not many people remember Sikandar Lodi now, but with how much love and respect we are remembering Kabir Sahib! At that time Sikandar Lodi tried to kill Kabir Sahib, who was despised by many because he was considered of low caste. But even so, now we remember Him with so much love and devotion, and no one remembers Sikandar Lodi, even though he was popular and mighty in his time. In the same way, Ravidas was born into a family of cobblers - a low caste - but still people remember his name with love and respect today. In the same way, Guru Arjan Dev Ji Maharaj, who has written this Sukhmani which we are reading, was tortured to death by the Emperor Jahangir who made him sit on hot coals and threw hot sand on his head. Nobody remembers Jahangir now; but how lovingly every morning the Sikh people remember Guru Arjan Dev, and read this bani. Why did such devotees become known in this world and why are they well remembered to this day? Only because they did the devotion of God and the Simran of the Lord. By doing the Simran of God, a man becomes a Sidh (seer), a jati (celibate) and a giver; By doing the Simran of God, even a low-caste person can become famous in all four directions. Up until now, those who have become well-known in this world because of their celibacy or their charity, achieved that because they had done Simran. Even those from the lower castes who were not considered good men also became kings of spirituality and received the worship of other people, only because they had done the Simran of the Lord. Kabir Sahib says, "A daughter who does the devotion of the Lord is better than a worldly-minded son who is not doing devotion." He compares that son who is not doing devotion to the wattles which the goat has on her neck from which neither urine nor milk comes - he is useless. He says that a son, even if he is very rich, who is not doing the devotion of God, is useless; and a girl who does the devotion of God is better than such a man. (In India, if anyone gets a baby girl, they are unhappy. They mourn because of her birth. But when they have a baby boy, they become very happy and they even distribute sweets to celebrate his birth.) The Simran of God supports the whole earth. Remember God, Who is the cause of all creation. The Simran of God has created this whole playground; In the Simran of God resides the Formless God Himself. He whom God makes graciously understand - Nanak says, He gets the Simran from the Gurumukhs.