Dawn of Divine Wisdom
ੴ ਸਤਿਗੁਰਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
(The all pervading One is achievable through Guru’s Grace)
ਸ੍ਰੀ ਅਕਾਲ ਜੀ ਸਹਾਇ ।
(Invocation to the Eternal Being for Inspiration)
I. Food For Thought
Ever since God created the boundless Universe about us, we are going through an unending vicious cycle of birth and death (ਆਵਾ ਗਉਣ ਦਾ ਚੱਕਰ) reaping the fruit of our good and bad deeds commited in our previous lives as well as in the present one. And, this will continue till eternity unless and until we (our souls) merge back in the Supreme Soul (Paramatma) from where we had originated and thus become immortal having attained salvation. Till such time this union takes place, our mental and physical sufferings are apt to continue in varying degrees and we will keep on reappearing in various forms of life.
ਜਬ ਲਗੁ ਸਬਦ ਭੇਦੁ ਨਹੀ ਆਇਆ ਤਬ ਲਗੁ ਕਾਲੁ ਸੰਤਾਏ ॥3॥ (1126)
II. Search For A Spiritual Leader
ਕੋਈ ਆਵੈ ਸੰਤੋ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਜਨੁ ਸੰਤੋ
ਮੇਰਾ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਮ ਜਨੁ ਸੰਤੋ ਮੋਹਿ ਮਾਰਗੁ ਦਿਖਲਾਵੈ ॥ (1201)
0’ saints, put me on the path for union with the Divine Master
All religious leaders have suggested ways and means of achieving peace of mind and salvation (freedom from birth and death) in accordance with whatever knowledge they had possessed by virtue of meditation, intuition or direct blessing from a senior sage. Each of such leaders had left behind him a reasonable number of followers. If today we say that the number of such religious groups in the world is beyond us to count, we shall not be incorrect. This proves the fact that the world is by and large, dissatisfied with the outer material feedings on account of inner spiritual hunger.
ਪਿਆਸ ਨ ਜਾਇ ਹੋਰਤੁ ਕਿਤੈ ਜਿਚਰੁ ਹਰਿ ਰਸੁ ਪਲੈ ਨ ਪਾਇ ॥ (921)
2. We know well that a guide, spiritual or otherwise, can enlighten us on a subject in accordance with his own knowledge about it. All religious leaders have been making tall claims and assuring their followers of various outcomes including salvation. Many of them had claimed to be the sons of God. This had created a reasonable good amount of faith in their followers. This perhaps, is more or less, true of many religions.
3. It is quite appealing to common sense that a Master of Maths can make his pupil a Master of Maths. A Master of Chemistry can make his student a Master of Chemistry and the same is true of other branches of the Science and Arts. Noone via media arrangement can help one achieve perfection in the chosen line without the help of a Master-leader.
In the like manner, in order to attain communion with the Almighty (ਪ੍ਰਭੂ ), which is called attainment of Salvation (ਮੁਕਤੀ), guidance has got to be taken from the one, who himself is one with God, and who himself is the true incarnation of God. In other words the spiritual leader has got to be Divine, i. e. he must not lack any quality of God (he must be complete in every sense). Only then he will be able to help us get out of the clutches of the angel of death forever and help us achieve everlasting peace.
ਕਹੈ ਨਾਨਕੁ ਵੀਚਾਰਿ ਦੇਖਹੁ ਵਿਣੁ ਸਤਿਗੁਰ ਮੁਕਤਿ ਨ ਪਾਏ ॥22॥ (920)
To be continued...
