Importance of Moral Character

[Deep Singh]

Sat Sri Akal fellow Sikhs....here is something i got from GurmatLearningZone Yahoo Group....i think the moderaters of that group have edited this articles with the [edit] mark (?)....it is about Maya and what Guru Sahib tells us about it....read the last comments by Dalip Singh

Importance of Moral Character

by Dalip Singh [http://www.gurmat.info/srec]

[edit] GURMAT lays all emphasis on our total reliance of our material

needs on the Creator Lord alone; for He alone Who creates all

creatures, does provide to each of them the material things to fulfill their

needs for sustenance. The revered Gurus taught us to live in the

Material World of Impurities, like a Swan floating on waters, without soaking

its wings in the water, ever capable of flying high; also like a

beautiful LOTUS follower, though attaining nourishment from the muddy water

of the pond, yet ever remaining unsoiled and unaffected by the

surrounding impurities. Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, in Rag Bilawal, p. 811, Guru

Granth, teaches us –

“ The dry bread of the Saints (earned by the sweat of their

brow) is equal to all treasures. The thirty-six tasty dishes of the

faithless cynic, are just like poison. 2 . Wearing the old blankets of

the humble devotees, one is not naked. But by putting on the silk

clothes of the faithless cynic, one loses one's honor. 3 Friendship with

the faithless cynic breaks down mid-way. But whoever serves the humble

servants of the Lord, is emancipated here and hereafter.| 4 .

Everything comes from You, O Lord; You Yourself created the creation. Blessed

with the Blessed Vision of

the Darshan of the Holy, Nanak sings the

Glorious Praises of the Lord.” 5. 14 . 44 .

Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, in Ramkali Rag, pp. 891-92 also teaches

- : “No matter how hard you try to grab it (*Maya or Wealth), it does

not come into your hands. No matter how much you may love it, it does

not go along with you. Says Nanak, when you abandon it, then it comes

and falls at your feet. 1 . Listen, O Saints: this is the pure

philosophy. Without the Lord's Name, there is no salvation. Meeting with the

Lord abiding within us, one is saved. 1 . Pause . When someone tries

to appease her (Maya), then she takes pride in herself. But when

someone puts her (Maya) out of his thoughts, then she serves him like a

slave. 2 She seems to please, but in the end, she deceives. She does

not remain in any one place. She has bewitched a great many worlds.

The Lord's humble servants cut her apart into pieces. 3 Whoever begs

from her remains hungry. Whoever is infatuated with her obtains

nothing. But one who renounces her, and joins the Society of the Saints, by

great good fortune, O Nanak, is saved. 4 . 18 . 29

* Varied Temptations of Material Things (Wealth, Sex, Lust,

Greed, Attachments, Self Aggrandizement, To Rule over others, Cheatings,

Jealousies, Pride, Self Praise, etc, constitute Maya)

Such a person, who has no self realization, and does not live

with His Creator Lord, he becomes an easy prey to the monstrous

instinctual passions of his mind, leads an enslaved life of his own making, as

the worst type of the beasts. He attains nothing, invariably by

leading an ignoble sensual life, lands himself in the prison here, and in the

hell hereafter.

In Paurhi 15, of Gujri Ki //, Guru Granth, p. 522, Guru Arjan

Dev teaches – : “These Five Instinctual Passions are extremely brave

and mighty ones, who have gath

ered to form the invincible army. Apart

from ordinary humans even those who attempt to lead disciplined life

as renunciates, they have been conquered by surrendering to their Ten

Organs of sensations and made them to indulge in the sensual pleasures.

As they even cannot withstand the onslaughts of the powerful army; the

strength of the army thus has further increased. The material world

of Five Elements, displayed as MAYA of Three Dispositions, is under

their influence; no one can stand against them. So tell me - how can

the Fort of Doubts in Man, surrounded by the Moat or Dyke of Maya , be

overcome? Answer - Worship the Perfect Lord God abiding within you;

it is HE WHO will Subdue this Awesome Army of Mighty Instinctual

Passions in you. I stand before Him, day and night, with my palms pressed

together praying to save me.” 15 .

Sri Guru Arjan Dev in Rag Aasa, p.404, states - Aasa Mehla 5:

The four castes and social classes, and the preachers with the six

Shaastras on their finger-tips, the beautiful, the refined, the shapely and

the wise Maya - the five passions have enticed and beguiled them all.

1 . Who has seized and conquered the five powerful fighters ( The

Instinctual Passions)? Is there anyone strong enough? He alone, who

conquers and defeats the five demons, is perfect in this Dark Age of Kali

Yuga. 1 . Pause . They are so awesome and great; they cannot be

controlled, and they do not run away. Their army is mighty and unyielding.

Says Nanak, that humble being who is under the protection of the Saadh

Sangat (Devotees of God), crushes those terrible demons. 2 . 3 . 132 .

In [edit] Dasam Granth, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji teaches

us in Chandi Chritra, Ukti Bilas as under –

God is the Primal Being, Unfathomable, Inexpressible, Eternal,

Formless and Indestructible. The Lord created Two Forces; Spiritual

>Potential and Material Potential. He too created the Spiritual

Knowledge, and the Three Modes of the Material (Maya). He sheds His Light

(Jot), which pervades in all the Three Spheres (Water, Land and Space).

The Lord created Matter of Five Elements, which in turn created, Pleasure

(Day) and Pain (Night); Reason and Knowledge (Sun) and Emotions (Moon).

He thus created the basis of POLEMIC between GOOD (gods) and Evil

(demons). He made the demons (Evil) against the gods (Good). He Himself

sits apart, to enjoy the entire Play. (1)

Lord, Your Light (Jot) is resplendent in the entire manifest

phenomena. Your Light (Jot) is Your Mighty Potential which annihilates

the Instincts of Attachment ( demonChund) and Instinct of Greed ( demon

Chemund). You with Your might kill the demons, and create the

Universe. (3) You in the Form of Chandi , are the Killer of demons

(instinctual passions), and the Ameliorator of humans on Earth. You are the

Primal Power, the Source of All that Manifest as Creative, Sustainer and

Destructive Powers. Wherever I see it is You alone at play. I see

You in passive form, as Emotional Love, as Humility personified, and the

Poetic par excellence imbibed in the hearts of poets. It is the touch

of Your Might which transforms an ordinary mortal into the superb

gold like being. (4)

In Shabad Hazare, Sri Guru Gobind Singh teaches –

O my mind, when you will realize the Quintessence of

the Divine abiding in you, and attain to Him this way, you will not get

affected by the evil instincts of wrath, greed, obstinacy and

attachments. (3) Practice renunciation, considering your homestead as if to be

living in a forest, as a detached person. Continence be your matted

hair, your contemplation of Him as your ablution, and disciplined conduct

be your long nails. The Divine Knowledge and His Guidance be the Gur

u;

and the Divine Love be the ashes to be rubbed on the body. (1)

Ever cherishing Forgiveness, Compassion and love for all within you;

while eating and sleeping sparingly, be the aim of life. The good

conduct of contentment be your companion, ever rising above the Three Modes

of Maya. (2)

Ramkali Patshaei Xth.

II

O my mind, practice Yoga in this way. Make Truth your horn,

to be totally devoid of deceit be your necklace, and contemplation be

the ashes to smear the body. (1. Pause).

Your concentration of mind be your one stringed instrument, and your

begging bowl be the Divine Love. With the striking of the strings of

concentration of mind on the Divine, the Supreme Melody of Love and

Devotion will be created. Thus Quintessence, of Love and Songs of Wisdom

will arise. Both the angels and the demons will be surprised on hearing

the Melody, and our good self will be filled with joy. (2) By living

with the Divine within oneself, he will be enriched with the Divine

Knowledge of Wisdom; will lead a Disciplined life by always remaining in

tune with the Lord. He will thus lead a healthy life, free from

ailments, and also attain the salvation (from the cycle of repeated deaths

and births).

III

Rag Ramkali, Patshaei Xth

O man, fall on the Feet of the Supreme Being. Why do you remain

asleep in the intoxication of varied attachments of Maya? Wake up and

look to the Reality. (1. Pause) You preach others, while you remain ever

ignorant like quadruped. What is the use of accumulation of the costly

material things? Abandon the way of sinful life. (1)

Except the Divine Love, consider all works leading you to the darkness.

Engage yourself toward observance of the Moral Law (Dharma). Thus

accumulate the wealth of th

e Divine Love, and stay away from sinful life.

(2) Live ever with God, which way make you rise above all sins and pains

connected therewith. You will thus break the noose of Death. The Lord

God’s Name gives peace to all at all times; remain ever absorbed in

Him. (3)

IV

Rag Sorath, Patshaei Xth

O Lord, my honor is in Your Hands. Lord, You are Blue throated

and Blue dressed (epithets of Shiva), Man Lion (Nar Singh Avtar), Master

of Waters (Narayan), Banvari (Vishnu). (1. Pause)

O Pure One, The Sublime, Transcendent, Master of all, Who lives on

nothing. O Master of Maya (The Great Illusion – Satanic), The Great

Enlightener, Destroyer of Tyranny and Pride, The Great Emancipator of All

(1) Lord, You are without sins, All Perfection, Never asleep, Without

ant Defects and never undergoes sufferings, the Savior of all from

falling into hell. O Ocean of Mercy, The Knower of every one’s past,

present and future; and the Destroyer of Evil. (2)

O Supreme Archer, the Wielder of Sword, The Support of Earth, I have

come to take refuge of Your Lotus Feet. Give me Your Hand and ferry me

across the Ocean of Existence.

In chapter 2 of Bichitar Natak, Guru Gobind Singh states –

Wealth and land are the basic reasons which cause enmity

amongst the people. The extension of infatuation, ego, hypocrisy, sex and

anger, have conquered the entire world. (34)

Wealth is indeed great, and must be hailed, because whole of

the world is its slave. All have their eyes upon it, and all salute the

wealth, and the wealthy persons. (35)

None remembers the Lord; enmity and opposition amongst people

goes on expanding. The root cause of the world’s ailment is GREED alone,

due to which all have become selfish, want others should perish. (In

that event they coul

d have possession of everything.) (36)

The Creator Lord created this enmity and resultant fighting,

which none of the righteous persons could resolve. Against the Forceful

Onslaughts of mighty Monster of Sexual Lust in conjunction with the

mighty Demon of Greed and Infatuation, WHO IS THE BRAVE MAN, WHO COULD

ESCAPE? (1) Chapter 3.

There is the important Dictum of Sri Guru Amar Das, The Third

Nanak in this respect, “hasti sir jio aunkas hai ahrun jio sir deh. mun

tun aagai rakh kai oobh saiv karai. eion gurmukh aap nivariai subh raj

sirast ka lai. nanak gurmukh bujhiai ja aapai nadar karai. Sorath ki

// M.4, p 647-48, SGGS.” (Just as an elephant offers his head to the

goad, and as the anvil offers itself to the hammer, similarly offer your

mind and body in love to God (Sat Guru), and ever lovingly obey His

Commands. In this way having totally effaced your egoism, you assume the

Sovereignty of the Whole World. Nanak says: when the Lord casts His

Gracious Glance, then alone, the devotee understands the Reality.) When

character is evolved in the people, God automatically blesses them with

not only political Sovereignty, but also Sovereignty in all other

spheres of their life. Believe it to be so. Whenever any Society has fallen

from power, it has fallen due to the lack of character of the people.

The Sikh Concept of Sovereignty is Equality of All, no domination, no

submission - “bhai kaon ko dait neh, na bhai manat aun” - Sri Guru Tegh

Bahadur. (Do not cause fear to any one, nor accept fear from any

quarter.)

It is totally wrong and absurd approach of all of us to make

attainment of political independence as our highest aim of life. Man's

independence or the freedom of thought, is the by product of the

character he develops. The persons who have no character can never attain to

any type freedom, they will ever remain slave of their evil

habits,

evolved out of their selfishness, and also the touts of the Powers that

be. They are seen to dance on others’ tunes like monkeys, and make

their drum beatings.

Character is evolved in self negation or rising from our self

and living objectively to the Highest ideal, which can only be TRUTH,

the Embodiment of which IS ONLY THE INFINITE CREATOR LORD; WHO IS NOT FAR

OFF TO SEEK, BUT ABIDES WITHIN US ALL. BY LIVING WITH HIM

OBJECTIVELY, IN COMPLETE DEVOTION, AND LOVINGLY OBEYING HIS COMMANDS, NOBLE

CHARACTER IS EVOLVED, WHEN ALL WISE THE CREATOR LORD BECOMES OUR TRUE GUIDE

OR SAT GURU. WE THUS ATTAIN NOT ONLY INDEPENDENCE ON OUR SELF, BUT

ALSO ATTAIN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE WORLD.

Only the persons of Character attain to

independence of living in the real sense, and are blessed with the political

independence as well. We Sikhs totally lost our character, immediately

after Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Final Departure from Earth; reverted

back to Hindu fold, adopted all the Brhmanic rituals, and their traits of

material exploits and quick attainment to Power. In this mad pursuit

of Political Power, we embarked on conquests of lands and acquisition

of Power, by raising rebellions against the State. We engaged our

selves in terrorist activities of robbing and killing Muslims

indiscriminately for conquests of lands, under the leadership of Banda Bairagi and

destroyed ourselves both morally and politically. At no stage we

learnt any lesson, and have continued this suicidal policy to this day.

Unless we change our attitude, our dream of political independence will

remain far fetched.

Apart from the various sects, and groups within us, there is

total ignorance prevailing in us even to understand

as to WHO IS OUR

LIVING GURU (God), THE SUCCESSOR TO GURU GOBIND SINGH, WHOM HE ANNOINTED

FORMALLY ON MARCH 30, 1699, & AGAIN IN DECEMBER 1705 AT CHAMKAUR. WE

THUS FAR HAVE CONTINUED TO OBSERVE BRAHMANIC PRACTICE OF IDOL WORSHIP

OF NON-LIVING GURU GRANTH, (BIBLIOLATRY), EVEN STRICTLY FORBIDDEN IN

GURU GRANTH BAANI ITSELF. Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji in Rag Aasa explicitly

taught us. “Baid Kataib Sansar hub hin Bahira, Nanak ka Patsha disai

Zahira” - Tr. The Infinite Creator Lord is not bound up in Scriptures

of either of East or West, or even in this created Universe. He

Pervades everywhere in all in this Universe, and beyond.

[edit]

HISTORY OF MAN IS THE WITNESS, WHEN A PEOPLE OF VAST EMPIRES DECLINED

IN THEIR CHARACTER, THEY LOST NOT ONLY THEIR EMPIRES BUT ALSO THEIR VERY

EXISTENCE. [edit]

WE FOOLS ARE DREAMING OF KHALISTAN? THANKS TO THE GRACIOUS

ALL WISE LORD, WHO DID NOT GIVE US A SIKH STATE IN 1947; OTHERWISE WE

WOULD HAVE FINISHED OURSELVES IN INTERNAL CONFLICTS AND IN NO TIME

WOULD HAVE LOST THE STATE. WE DO NOT HAVE CHARACTER, HENCE DO NOT DESERVE

ANYTHING PRESENTLY. WE MUST EVOLVE OUR CHARACTER.

DALIP SINGH

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