Simran & Spiritual Ego

by Siri Singh Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji
Article from "Beads of Truth" magazine, Fall 1980, #5

There is a great tragedy going on today. People who have never done simran[1], who have not experienced simran, who have not reached an acknowledged state of simran, they talk about simran. Simran is not japa[2]. Japa gives the power of simran. Japa is the repetition of the Holy Naam[3], Meditation is not simran. Meditation gives you the power of simran. Yoga, Raaj Yoga[4] is not simran. Raaj Yoga is a technology to achieve, receive and conceive the simran. Sahaj Yoga[5] is not simran. Sahaj Yoga is a concept through which you can pursue simran. Prayer is not simran. Prayer gives you the power so that your mind can be set for simran.

 When the state of consciousness reaches simran then you do not need to do anything; God follows you. At that stage the Almighty, the Infinite, the Omniscient, the Omnipotent God, the Something which you are so proud of, and which you talk about and you perceive about and scriptures talk about and saints and sages sing about, that entire Universal Power is totally looking towards the teeny, tiny individual. That is simran for which Guru Arjan sang:

Simarao simar simar sukh paauao

Kal kales tan maa-ai mitaaoao. [6]

(To the one who meditates on Him there comes a perfect peace, And all pain and sorrows depart.)

This is hypocrisy of simran where some people want to sing Gurbaanee because of ego. And some people get up in the morning and say, "Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru," and they think they have got the whole world in the palm of their hand. Now, these are symptoms of spiritual ego, and in the entire scripture of yoga there is one definition that states that you can do anything you want, but you should never have a spiritual ego. Out of all the ways that ego can manifest the most dangerous ego is spiritual.

You have seen in the world that normally people who are experts in a certain aspect of life – like a doctor, an attorney, an executive, a business person, all those who have worked hard in one profession – you will often find them very much in pain. They are very successful in one aspect of life and very unsuccessful in the other aspect of life. You will find there is not a balance, because the earthly balance and spiritual balance is not there, and that man can never be happy. It doesn’t matter what you belong to, it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what your intentions are. The purpose to live happily is to understand the deep flow of spirituality. And you have to be firm in it. This flow has to be constant.

Some people you may know in a daily way of life are very fanatic. They will love you, respect you, and they are with you and then afterward they’re all "blown out," "burnt out." Their flow is gone, the life is gone, the respect is gone, that adherence is gone, that continuity is gone. This speculative behavior is not in any way, form, and shape, a symptom of spiritual flow. Spiritual flow is just like a river: anything can be taken out of it, it still continues. And that flow comes out of simran.

Simran is a continuous, meditative, longingly creative feeling. It’s a feeling, it’s a flow, it is a touch, it is a substance. "Ang Sang Wahe Guru" (God is with me through every limb, every millimeter, every situation of mine.)

Sikh Dharma is not going to spread because of you or because of me. Don’t have any misunderstanding.

This planet is going to go through changes where insanity shall rule. On this earth a period is going to come when insanity shall rule. At that moment Sikh Dharma shall be the way out from that tyranny of insanity. We are trying to tell people that whatever time we have got at our disposal we should just live in a state of consciousness which is divine. I have heard many people quoting:

"Kal yug maih keenan pardhaanaa."
In Kal yug, keertan is the president. [7]

"Pardhaanaa" means president. But if our president doesn’t have any army, he doesn’t have a cabinet, he doesn’t have a White House, where is he going to go?

Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of Awareness, it’s the union of God. It is a short route to achieve a state where you can enjoy keertan. There are twenty-two types of yoga. I’m not saying any yoga is wrong, but the only advantage of Kundalini Yoga is that it takes ninety days. It has the shortest effective time limit. If it has been prescribed for a yogi to achieve a state of balanced equilibrium or applied intelligence, that comes through Kundalini Yoga. But I am not saying right now that in ninety days all of you can achieve that. Ninety days are prescribed for that person who’s perfect in constitution, who’s perfect in metabolism, who is perfect in devotion. It applies to a normal human being, not an abnormal, subconscious or obnoxious human being. Kundalini Yoga is not for neurotics, psychotics, and idiots. It makes the idiot a human being first, and then a human being a "gurumukh.[8]" It’s a way, it’s a science, it’s a technology. If you don’t want to use it, don’t use it. Then your glandular system will confuse itself. The glands are the guardians of your health, and without this balancing effort your behavior will fall apart. Don’t do this yoga, and if you will not become sick and revert back to your normal, imbalanced state of mind, you can come and grab me.

You’re making a mockery! Something was given to you as a divine gift from the Guru’s house, it was from the house of Guru Ram Das, the house of Raaj Yog. Raaj Yog, and Kundalini Yoga, the yoga of Chardee Kalaa, are not different. So it was given to you, but some of you insulted it. You didn’t use it! You didn’t make it a part of your life so that it can keep you as a balanced human and from a balanced human you can go to the state of sanmukh[9], gurmukh, and then you can reach the stage of simran. It’s a privilege.

I am willing to challenge the entire planet earth and any wise person and anybody who knows anything about gurmat[10], And I want you to challenge everybody because firmness is a blessing. It is a base, it gives you a foundation. You are talking from a state of mind which is engrossed in maya. I am not talking from a state which is related to maya. If you are rich, there are people more rich. If you are great, there are people who are more great. If you have six children, somebody has eight. If this is your sixth wife, somebody is marrying tomorrow for the eighth time. You are of no value. You have no firmness, you have no humility. As Americans you have not yet learned what is bhaanaa[11], You have not learned obedience. Law of obedience is the law of command. In our western social structure the law of obedience doesn’t exist.

Halach palach saglee moee, lhoot Dhandahi Moh[12]

All shall die, all shall go away doing and loving the wrong things, wrong aspects of life.

The real aspect of life is pure, it is pure crystal, it is clear and it is absolutely in its own element.

Cur kee mat tooin leh iaane. Bhagat binaa baho doobe siaane.[13]

Oh innocent! If you think you are innocent, take the advice of the Guru: Without bhagati (devotional love) a lot of wise people have drowned themselves.

Why should wise people drown themselves? Because they have the ego they’re wise. It is ego to think you are wise. Nobody is wise. The Doer does everything.

We are very blessed. We may not know it, but I tell you today why we are blessed. In Siri Guru Granth Sahib[14] every aspect of our human life has been addressed, discussed and directions given. This direction given to the mind is not direction to you. That’s the only difference which you do not understand. Siri Guru Granth does not direct you, it directs your mind and you have to have a control of your mind; your neutral mind, your positive mind, your negative mind. The trinity of mind should be under your control. Now what is the method you have got? The method to control the trinity of mind is called Kundalini Yoga. You are not born as a Sikh so that you have to be a Sikh just to carry on the family tradition. You are reborn! Therefore you have to understand the very essence of the way of life.

Naam ke dhaare sagale ant[15]

By the Naam all beings are sustained.

Naam is not what you think. Some of you are so confused. Some people are reciting Naam with the breath, some people are doing it with a niolee[16]. I knew a yogi in India, he would chant the Naam while doing niolee kriya. I knew a person who could create any sound in the very rib cage. You go and listen to any mantra you want. I don’t tell you the things I have seen. I have seen marvelous things, but to me it is all a circus. Everything is a circus. But beyond the circus there is a stage of continuity. It is a continuous state of fulfillment, where the lasting inflow of the spirit comes in and the everlasting flow of the spirit goes out. It is a state, it is a blue lagoon, it’s a peace lagoon. There is peace. In that peace there is tolerance, there is an acceptance of the Will of God, there is the obedience, and there is a tremendous amount of patience.

What God did is God created the human being and told him to go on the earth and to just look after maya and maya would look after him. So the human being came here for an average of sixty-five years. For the first twenty years the human doesn’t understand who he is or she is and after sixty years he does not know what is going to happen to him. Between twenty and sixty is about forty years. So for the sake of this little period of forty years, God is forgotten and maya overtakes him. I have seen people who are neurotic or chaotic. They create chaos. If you send them someplace they are not happy there, they want to be someplace else. They run after that scent like a musk deer, who has musk right in his own navel, and they want to find peace somewhere else.

I was shocked when I saw somebody pick up the telephone and slam the receiver on the stand. That bang is still in my ear. And I asked the lady, "What did this telephone receiver do to you? How did it harm you? What language did this receiver speak that you have taken it and banged it on the stand. What for?" No, it is not the telephone, it is the anger inside. It’s the imbalance inside. And to reach the balance, simran is the stage of consciousness. It is started humbly. Humbly, you progress to that humble stage for which Guru Gobind Singh is responsible, to that stage for which Guru Nanak is responsible. For that progress Guru Nanak gave the mantra "Sat Naam," because it is a panj (five syllable) shabd. So, in who’s destiny it is not written that he can be holy, he can be divine, he can have patience, who can do it? That is why we hear and feel.

Virle ke-ee ke[17]

They are few and far between.

We have a technology in which we can raise the dormant energy within our own self. It doesn’t matter who we are. We can raise the dormant energy, and we can live an aware life. There are many people who are hung up on sex. There are many who are hung up on the body. There are many hung up on ego. And there will continue to be many and they will always continue to exist through all times. But that’s not the end of the world. There are some very beautiful people. There are people who give, there are people who tolerate, there are people who love, there are people who are mighty. There are people who are young and innocent and they can still sing, "We are the Khalsa[18]," Mighty, mighty Khalsa. Everywhere we go people want to know who we are, so we tell them." They are also children. They are the children of God. If this state of consciousness will continue, they are the ones who shall be followed everywhere by God. Corruption is corruption, and corruption can eat up anybody and everybody. But Khalsa is born and Khalsa shall live!

That mighty, mighty Khalsa is not a dream any more. It exists. And there are some divine mothers who know the technology of the Khalsa. And there are some divine mothers who will sacrifice everything, and they will nurse the Khalsa. That’s the job of the Khalsa Council. That is the job of the Panth Khalsa. That’s the job of everyone who believes, feels, and understands that Khalsa is born and it is their job to nurse this Khalsa. That is what Simran means.

My divine majesty today is not mine. It is a state of consciousness. I wonder why you can’t get there. It is so simple. Your husband cannot give it to you, your mother can not give it to you, your father cannot give it to you, your brother cannot give it to you. Money cannot give it to you. Possessions cannot give it to you, your spiritual rituals cannot give it to you, your spiritual rites cannot give it to you. It is a state of gratitude, and it is a relationship between a human and God.

I want to share with you because I experience it all the time, that when these hyenas and wolves in the body of male or female bite on my skin and their ugly long teeth go deep into my bones, at that time if I don’t cry it’s because:

Teraa keeaa meetaa laagai Naam padhaarat Nanak maangai[18]

Thy Will is sweet to me, 0 Lord Nanak asks only for the treasure of the Naam.

I feel pleased, I feel happy, and it doesn’t matter. Their unfortunate plight is their unfortunate plight. Because of Guru’s Grace they’re walking towards the Guru’s gate. So it is my pleasure, it is my happiness. I’ve no relationship with you. I’ve not come here to create relationships. I don’t belong to you. Neither you belong to me. I’m just a messenger, a passerby, who while passing is just letting you know who you are. So you tell them, "We are the Khalsa, mighty, mighty Khalsa, everywhere we go, people want to know…" and I’m just telling you what people want to know.

It’s not my trip. It’s a simple thing. And there is no sacrifice more divine than that. And there is no meditation more divine than that. And there is no yoga more divine than that. And there is no simran more divine than that, as when a little child can stand out and as a little person, can be in such an aware state of consciousness, being just a seven-year-old, or a nine-year-old. Then there is a standard.

Listen to me, you egomaniacs! Listen to me, fools! Please listen to me! Out of my life I’m telling you: a standard has been set! The two young sons of Guru Gobind Singh were seven and nine years old when they were bricked alive, and still they could say, "There is One God, One Father and we are all His children." And they could smile.

It surprises me when I’m speaking to some young kid, and when I ask his age, I hear the reply as "sixteen". I feel that when I was sixteen-and-a-half I was a Master of Kundalini Yoga.

There is no beauty, there is no charm, there is no grace in living confused. Leave duality, be one way! Either be like wax or be hard like granite stone. Be nothing or be everything! Death shall come to all, and it shall come to you! And I tell you that at least today is the day when you can just stand up to yourself and say, "Enough is enough! I am going to be that pure Khalsa."

I do not know how many times I have to remind you. I know intimacy breeds contempt. And perhaps you are very near to me, therefore you do not understand what I am saying to you. But just remember, one day this voice which tells you to wake up, shall not be heard anymore. And it will be very, very difficult.

When a human being talks the language of the Guru, when he speaks of the Guru, the Guru flows through that person. When he talks the Gurbaanee and the Truth, then the Sat Guru flows through that person. When he talks the word and the knowledge of Siri Guru Granth Sahib, then the Siri Guru flows from that person. When a person chants "Wahe Guru," then Wahe Guru flows through that person. It’s all for people. There’s nobody who is condemned in Guru’s house.

The selfish, egocentric, egomaniac has totally twisted the Sikh Dharma by saying that it is a priestless society. It is not a priestless society. We had Bhai Mani Singh as a priest of the Holy Mandir. We had a Jathedar of every missal. We had Guru Hargobind to illustrate the temporal and spiritual leader. It is a beautiful and organized way of life. Some don’t belong to it, that I am willing to agree! But it does belong to everybody.

Khalsa is born, and now you must nurse it, and let it grow, and let it glow. Not only the little ones, but also the tall ones, and big ones with grey beards and with eyes which cannot see and which may have one inch thick glasses to put on even to read the word, "Wahe Guru." But when they are asked who they are, from one-hundred-twenty-year-old to one-day-old, a stage of consciousness should be achieved when they understand who they are and they say, "I am the mighty, mighty Khalsa."

With this confirmation and this declaration and this acceptance when there comes a real dear flow of life, that is what Naam simran is. It is a state of self crucifixion. And it is a state of self exaltation. It is a sublimity. It is a sublime stage of the self in which the fineness and refinement of the Holy Naam sounds and resounds all around. It’s very simple but it is to be achieved. It is a path, it’s a way of life. I understand it, I feel it, I enjoy it, I acknowledge it, and I share it with you. And it’s my prayer that Siri Guru Granth, in whose court you are sitting, may bless you, as one day I was blessed, so that you can enjoy, you can feel, and you can be. It’s a work. It’s a hard work. But it can be worked out. It’s not impossible. Therefore please try to relate to it, in the essence of it. 

[1] To correct the thought wave unto Infinity (an attitude).
[2] Meditation on the repetition of a mantra of infinity (a technique).
[3] Sat Nam.
[4] Yoga of Mastery.
[5] That state of yoga coming after the student has developed an egoless state of union with the Guru, in which all spiritual growth comes easily and naturally. Sahni: easy, automatic.
[6] Sukhmanee, Guru Arjan. Ashtapadee I.
[7] Guru Arjan.
[8] One who lives according to the Guru’s command.
[9] Stage of turning toward Guru and beginning to walk on the path of Guru.
[10] Guru’s wisdom.
[11] God’s will.
[12] Baaraah Maahaa, Guru Arjan.
[13] Sukhmanee, Guru Arjan. Ashtapadee XIX.
[14] Living Guru of the Sikhs which is a collection of the words and writings of the Sikh Gurus, as well as of the mystics and devotees whose universal understanding of the nature of God and His creation qualified their writings for inclusion in this exquisite compilation of music and poetry.
[15] Sukhmanee, Guru Arjan, Ashtapadee XVI.
[16] Method of cleansing the nasal passages.
[17] Guru Arjan.
[18] Pure Ones.
[19] Guru Arjan.

 

One Response to “Simran & Spiritual Ego”

1. Fateh says:

   May 4, 2011 at 6:49 am

   Thank you, please. More stories and lectures on Sikh Dharma, please. It is very needed.

   Love,
   Fateh