A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MAXIMIZE BENEFITS OF SIMRAN
JAP SAT NAAM SAT NAAM SAT NAAM SAT NAAM SAT NAAM SADA SADA SAT NAAM
To maximize the rewards of SIMRAN you must watch your actions and reactions during the day and night. The divine laws laid out by the GURBANI tell you to become a truthful person, to live truthfully, to act and react truthfully, practice truth, abide by truth and serve the truth. All the non-truthful actions-and reactions –ASAT KARAM – are carried under the influence of Five Thieves (PANJ DOOT) :
KAAM – Lust,
KRODH – Anger,
LOBH – Greed,
MOH – Selfish Love & Attachments
AHANKAAR– Self Pride.
These Five Thieves reside inside your body and steal your lifeforce, you inner spiritual energy known as AMRIT. And they steal God’s NAAM the source that generates your inner Amrit.
eis dhaehee a(n)dhar pa(n)ch chor vasehi kaam krodhh lobh mohu aha(n)kaaraa ||
Within this body dwell the five thieves:
sexual desire, anger, greed, emotional attachment and egotism.
a(n)mrith loottehi manamukh nehee boojhehi koe n sunai pookaaraa ||
They plunder the Amrit Nectar, but the self-willed manmukh does not realize it;
no one hears the screams.
a(n)dhhaa jagath a(n)dhh varathaaraa baajh guroo gubaaraa ||2||
The world is blind, and its dealings are blind as well;
without the Guru, there is only pitch darkness. ||2||
SGGS 600
pa(n)ch chor mil laagae nagareeaa raam naam dhhan hiriaa ||
The five thieves join together and plunder the body-village,
stealing the wealth of the Lord’s Name.
SGGS 1178
KAAM Lust, resides in the lower portion of your body around the sexual organs.
KRODH Anger resides in the stomach area.
LOBH AND MOH reside in the chest-heart area.
And AHANKAAR self pride, the biggest enemy, lives in your head and the most difficult to control.
A normal person’s daily actions and reactions are controlled by these PANJ DOOTS. The mind of a normal person works under the direct control of PANJ DOOTS. Your past life has a very big influence on how you conduct yourself in your day-to-day activities. And your this life’s character is greatly influenced by all the previous lives. The idea is to get yourself away from the influence of your past life’s and previous lives’ in your daily conduct to be free from the control of the PANJ DOOTS. This is the most difficult task to accomplish, it is easy to do SIMRAN but you need to bring these enemies of yours under your control –
pa(n)ch dhooth thudhh vas keethae kaal ka(n)ttak maariaa ||
Through You, we subdue the five demons of desire, and slay Death, the torturer.
SGGS 917
This is how you are going to win over your mind,
man jeethae jag jeethiaa jaa(n) thae bikhiaa thae hoe oudhaas ||2||
Conquering the mind, one conquers the world,
and then remains detached from corruption. ||2||
SGGS 1103
The most difficult war is to win over these PANJ DOOTS, and how you will accomplish that?
1. AHANKAAR – SELF PRIDE
Let us consider the most difficult and the most distracting one first– AHANKAAR self pride. This is the biggest enemy standing in the way of the Human Soul (JEEV ATMA) on its spiritual journey to become a Supreme Soul (PARAM-ATMA). The distance between the PARAM-ATMA and JEEV ATMA is the creation of the man himself due to his ego and pride (HAUME –AHANKAAR).
mehalaa 2 ||
Second Mehl:
houmai eaehaa jaath hai houmai karam kamaahi ||
This is the nature of ego, that people perform their actions in ego.
houmai eaeee ba(n)dhhanaa fir fir jonee paahi ||
This is the bondage of ego, that time and time again, they are reborn.
houmai kithhahu oopajai kith sa(n)jam eih jaae ||
Where does ego come from? How can it be removed?
houmai eaeho hukam hai paeiai kirath firaahi ||
This ego exists by the Lord’s Order; people wander according to their past actions.
houmai dheeragh rog hai dhaaroo bhee eis maahi ||
Ego is a chronic disease, but it contains its own cure as well.
kirapaa karae jae aapanee thaa gur kaa sabadh kamaahi ||
If the Lord grants His Grace, one acts according to the Teachings of the Guru’s Shabad.
naanak kehai sunahu janahu eith sa(n)jam dhukh jaahi ||2||
Nanak says, listen, people: in this way, troubles depart. ||2||
SGGS 466
vaddeha(n)s mehalaa 3 ||
Wadahans, Third Mehl:
houmai naavai naal virodhh hai dhue n vasehi eik t(h)aae ||
Ego is opposed to the Name of the Lord; the two do not dwell in the same place.
houmai vich saevaa n hovee thaa man birathhaa jaae ||1||
In egotism, selfless service cannot be performed, and so the soul goes unfulfilled. ||1||
har chaeth man maerae thoo gur kaa sabadh kamaae ||
O my mind, think of the Lord, and practice the Word of the Guru’s Shabad.
hukam ma(n)nehi thaa har milai thaa vichahu houmai jaae || rehaao ||
If you submit to the Hukam of the Lord’s Command, then you shall meet with the Lord; only then will your ego depart from within. ||Pause||
houmai sabh sareer hai houmai oupath hoe ||
Egotism is within all bodies; through egotism, we come to be born.
houmai vaddaa gubaar hai houmai vich bujh n sakai koe ||2||
Egotism is total darkness; in egotism, no one can understand anything. ||2||
houmai vich bhagath n hovee hukam n bujhiaa jaae ||
In egotism, devotional worship cannot be performed,
and the Hukam of the Lord’s Command cannot be understood.
houmai vich jeeo ba(n)dhh hai naam n vasai man aae ||3||
In egotism, the soul is in bondage, and the Naam,
the Name of the Lord, does not come to abide in the mind. ||3||
naanak sathagur miliai houmai gee thaa sach vasiaa man aae ||
O Nanak, meeting with the True Guru, egotism is eliminated,
and then, the True Lord comes to dwell in the mind||
sach kamaavai sach rehai sachae saev samaae ||4||9||12||
One starts practicing truth, abides in truth
and by serving the True One gets absorbed in Him. ||4||9||12||
SGGS 560
One thing more to understand to make it easier to understand is that KRODH anger and AHANKAAR self-pride are complementary to each other. AHANKAAR causes KRODH. KRODH comes because of AHANKAAR. So if you are able to over power AHANKAAR then KRODH will diminish automatically. The opposite of AHANKAAR is the utmost humbleness-NIMRATA, and this is a very powerful weapon to kill AHANKAAR. In order to kill your HAUME EGO try following things:
· Cleaning of your kitchen utensils – seva starts from your home.
· Cleaning of your family’s shoes – seva starts from serving your own family members first.
· Do DANDAOT BANDHNA (prostrating to SGGS) when you go to the gurudwara – KAR DANDAOT PUN WADDA HAI, this produces wonderful results.
· Clean langar’s utensils, no match with this seva.
· Clean gurudwara.
· Dust sangat’s shoes, does wonders.
· AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO EARN IT FAST DUST SANGAT’S SHOES WITH YOUR BEARD OR HAIR (ego women’s pony tail).
Believe it, if you do these things you will definitely feel the difference within your self instantaneously. These have been very successfully experienced by this servant (sevak) of yours and some of the other gursikhs known to this sevak. It does wonders, just do it and reap the rewards instantaneously. The more the NIMRATA the more the AMRIT.
SAT GURUS were extremely humble – they were servants of Gods servants (DASSAN DAAS).
The SUPREME SPIRITUAL STATUS (PARAM PADVI) is to become DASSAN DAAS. So you have to bring this attribute in yourself, you have to become DASSAN DAAS then only the MASTER will be pleased at you.
Consider everybody else is higher than you, be they your spouse, son, daughter, father, mother, your subordinate, your servant. You are the lowest of the lowest of the lowest, you have to become so low that you want to be lower than the a worm in manure (BISHTA KA KIDA). This is what DASSAN DAAS is.
sagal purakh mehi purakh pradhhaan ||
Among all persons, the supreme person is the one
saadhhasa(n)g jaa kaa mittai abhimaan ||
who gives up his egotistical pride in the Company of the Holy.
aapas ko jo jaanai neechaa ||
One who sees himself as lowly,
sooo ganeeai sabh thae oochaa ||
shall be accounted as the highest of all.
jaa kaa man hoe sagal kee reenaa ||
One whose mind is the dust of all,
har har naam thin ghatt ghatt cheenaa ||
recognizes the Name of the Lord, Har, Har, in each and every heart.
man apunae thae buraa mittaanaa ||
One who eradicates cruelty from within his own mind,
paekhai sagal srisatt saajanaa ||
looks upon all the world as his friend.
sookh dhookh jan sam dhrisattaethaa ||
One who looks upon pleasure and pain as one and the same,
naanak paap pu(n)n nehee laepaa ||6||
O Nanak, is not affected by sin or virtue. ||6||
SGGS 266
2. MOH – SELFISH LOVE AND ATTACHMENT
What is the difference between MOH and LOVE? If you love your neighbour’s daughter as much as much as you love your own daughter, then you can say you truly LOVE your daughter free from attachments and expectations. If you love you daughter more than you love any other child than that is MOH – selfish love. MOH is being selfish. When a person only thinks about their blood relations, and don’t care about everybody else. MOH is the root cause of all the family disputes, the very concept of the so called family is due to MOH.
mithhiaa than dhhan kutta(n)b sabaaeiaa ||
False are body, wealth, and all relations.
SGGS 268
The real family is where there is only LOVE and nothing else but pure LOVE for each other. The key is to love all his creations equally, your love for AKAL PURAKH is not a true love if you don’t love all HIS creations as much as you LOVE HIM. You need to develop a SINGLE VISION – EK DRISHT – TO SEE EVERY ONE WITH ONE EYE, ALL ARE EQUAL:
sabh eaek dhrisatt samath kar dhaekhai sabh aatham raam pashhaan jeeo ||
They look upon all with equality, and recognize the Supreme Soul, the Lord, pervading among all.
SGGS 446
You need to bring this great attribute in your character, this will inculcate in you the sense of doing good to others, helping the poor, and so on and eventually your heart centre (HIRDEY) will become a philanthropist’s heart (PARUPKARI HIRDEY).
It is very difficult to leave your own dear and near family and start caring for others, so how do you accomplish it ? Start from your family. Don’t see them as your family members anymore. See everybody in the family as SANGAT. Now the rules will change, all the rules applicable to the SANGAT will be applied to your family members.
Help your family members as you would help the SANGAT with an atitude of service (SEVA BHAVNA). Treat your family members as you would treat the SANGAT. In this way your house will become a DHARAM SHAAL meaning "A PLACE FULL OF LOVE AND SACRIFICE AND SEVA, A GURUDWARA"
ghar ghar a(n)dhar dhharamasaal hovai keerathan sadhaa visoaa||
Everyhome has become a place of religion where God’s praises are always sung.
Bhai Gurdas Var 1
This was our GREAT GURU NANAK DEV JI’S dream, don’t you think that will start to come true. This way you will start to realize and see GOD in all your family members. You will stop thinking badly about your family members. The family disputes will start to disappear. Your home will become a real SWEET HOME. This will turn your home into a heaven. If you are the only one on this path, please start following these steps, and others in the family will start to follow you slowly and slowly everybody will become a new person, full of love, sacrifice and seva bhawna. And you will start moving to become EK DRISHT, SINGLE VISION AND LOVE THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, and on a path of PARUPKAR. Again believe it, and do it, it works, it has worked in our families, it will work in your family as well.
3. LOBH – GREED
The next enemy in the hierarchy is LOBH – GREED to own and possess everything. There is a part of the human brain that contains a reptilians brain. That reptillian brain in us creates the "grab and run" mentality. MAYA is the evil behind the greedy nature of a man. Man wants to become rich by hook or crook, adopting bad or good means, bribery, dishonesty, cheating, hiding, lying, killing and all kind of bad deeds.
MAYA makes a man do all unimaginably bad acts to make him rich. Has anybody taken any MAYA along with him when he died ? No. Then why do we all run after MAYA? Because this is another one of the PANJ DOOTS, that stands in the way in the path to spirituality. So how do we get a control over this evil force of MAYA? With Truth and Contentment (SAT SANTOKH).
thhaal vich thi(n)n vasathoo peeou sath sa(n)thokh veechaaro ||
Upon this Plate, three things have been placed: (SAT SANTOKH) Truth Contentment and Contemplation.
SGGS 1429
SAT SANTOKH is the strongest weapon that will kill all urges to make MAYA by bad means. The only good way to do so is by a honest job. Be contented with what you have. Never long for more, whatever is in store for you will automatically come to you, just be truthful and honest in your day today actions and while doing your job, use good means to advance your career goals, HE will surely help you.
Give DASWANDH – one tenth of your earnings to your Guru, Gurudwara or donate to the poor people, to the homeless, feed the birds and animals, to the sick people, orphans, and other needy people. Giving DASWANDH is mandatory, it is the DIVINE LAW, if you want to get a control over MAYA then you have to do it:
than man dhhan sabh soup gur ko hukam ma(n)niai paaeeai ||
Surrender body, mind, wealth, and everything to the Guru;
obey the Order of His Will, and you will find Him.
SGGS 918
If you really want to do it fast (and you have never given daswand before) then CALCULATE YOUR NET WORTH AND DONATE ONE TENTH OF THE NET WORTH FOR A WORTHY CAUSE. The MAYA will start serving you instead of you running after MAYA. The greed will disappear and you will always be in SAT SANTOKH.
4. KAAM- the sexual desire, lust.
The next enemy is the KAAM- the sexual desire, lust. As long as sexual activity and thoughts are limited to your spouse it is not considered to be spiritually damaging. However as soon as you step out of that boundary, then you have been overpowered by this big enemy of yours. This kind of a desire is very deadly and NAAM doesn’t work with it. Instead of seeing others as potential sex partners, see them as a sister, daughter a mother or brother, father and son.
par thria roop n paekhai naethr ||
(The saint is the one) whose eyes do not gaze upon the beauty of others’ wives
SGGS 274
akhee soothak vaekhanaa par thria par dhhan roop ||
The impurity of the eyes is to gaze upon the beauty of another man’s wife, and his wealth.
SGGS 472
This one is not as hard to control, call every woman you meet or see as bhehn ji, mata ji, or beti. If you get a lousy feeling, a lustful feeling in your inside when you see some body else, then look at her feet, say SAT NAAM WAHEGURU FIVE TIMES, bow to her her and ask her for her forgiveness inside your heart. Accept your misdeed right away and you will be pardoned by the GOD. Slowly and slowly you will start to realize and feel the difference in your attitude, and your vision will change, you will start to realize they are your sisters, mothers and daughters.
In spite of your best efforts, there is always a strong possibility of you being hit by one or more of these BIG FIVE ENEMIES of yours every now and then, so what do you do to encounter them:
THE STRONGEST WEAPON IS – "SAT NAAM WAHE GURU", SO SAY "SAT NAAM WAHE GURU" FIVE TIMES, THIS WILL CRUSH THE HEAD OF YOUR ENEMY RIGHT AWAY and you will be relieved of that moment. The next thing is for keeping your accounts of good and bad actions (CHITER GUPT) clean all the time we will request you to perform the following ardaas as many time as many you can during the day and night:
AASI BEANT PAAPI HAAN, PAKHANDI HAAN, KAAMI HAAN, KRODHI HAAN, LOBHI HAAN, MOHI HAAN, AHANKAARI HAAN, we accept all our mis deeds-GUNAH, AASI GUNEH GAAR HAAN KOOD KAPTI HAAN, LOON HARAMI HAAN, KIRPA KAR KE SANOO BAKHASH DEY.
“I am an endless sinner. A hypocrite. Lustful. Angry. Greedy. Attached and proud. I accept all my misdeeds. I am a great offender. Full of falseness and take what belongs to others. O Lord show your mercy and kindness and please forgive me.”
This is basically accepting all your mis deeds, an open confession to confess all your sins, and once you confess them your sins are pardoned by HIM, since he is very very kind.
Believe in it, it does work and it works great, repeat it every 10-15 minutes during the day at least. Slowly and slowly when you start to have control on these five enemies, your frequency of this ardaas will automatically go down, and eventually it will be reduced to almost none, when you will become completely truthful person.
If you really want to do it the fast way then standup in the full congregation and accept all your misdeeds. Repeat the above prayer, it will do wonders to you, you will just be cleaned very quickly from inside, if you do it repeatedly in SANGAT then the result will be unbelievable, so beloved ones of the Guru (Guru Ke Pyareo), pick up your courage and do it, it will boost your spirituality at a supersonic speed.
This servant of yours will ask for forgiveness to the SANGAT AND GURU for anything that was not said right and for his misdeeds.
Dassan Das