Let us pray to “Paar Braham Parmesar” (Supreme Transcendent God) who is
· Agam (Beyond our reach)
· Agadh
· Agochar (Beyond our 5 senses)
· Aprampar
· Anant (Without Limit)
· Beant (Infinite)
· Param Dyalu (Supremely Compassionate)
· Param Kirpalu (Supremely Merciful)
and the Guru
for their Gur Kirpa – Gur Parsaad (Eternal Blessings)
to make us all capable of understanding the true and divine meaning of the word (divine word) “Dharam”.
This has been grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted by religious circles, society and hence by the masses all around the globe. Let us try to understand and remove the confusion about the word “Dharam” based on :
· divine wisdom
· Gurmat
· the Dargahi definition
· the presence of the Eternal Essence in the word “Dharam”
· presence of the Param Tatt – Sat Tatt (Supreme Truth Essence)
· and what was understood, exercised, explained, written and promoted by the Guru Sahibans, Sants, Bhagats and Braham Gyanis.
Each and every divine word of Gurbani tells us a Divine Truth (SAT) about the Essence Of Supreme God (Param Tatt Paar Braham Parmesar):
· either His Naam (Name),
· or His Praise (praises)
· or the Praise (praises) of Sants, Bhagats, Braham Gyanis or Satgur.
Each and every divine word (Shabad ) of Gurbani removes the darkness of our mind and soul. It gives us the divine light through the divine wisdom present in every Word. By such virtues each word of Gurbani is called a word Guru – Shabad Guru. The word “Dharam” is also a Guru. Each word :
· contains the presence of Supreme Truth (Param Tatt Puran Braham Gyan) hidden in it
· has the dimensions and the depth of Akal Purakh Himself
· is unlimited and infinite like Paar Braham Parmesar.
· is an integeral part of the Almighty Himself.
The word “Dharam” represents all the divine essence of Paar Braham Himself.
A Sant Hirda is the person who follows the word “Dharam” and brings into himself
· its essence
· the eternal truth hidden in it and
· the Braham Gyan hidden in it.
By practicing in “dharam” in his daily life he becomes
· a Pargatyeo Jyot, (God’s Light manifests inside them)
· one with Almighty
· merges in the Almighty.
How does he do it?
To most people the word “Dharam” means religion and heavily influences their
· particular group – normally what they are born into
· sacred language,
· dress,
· customs
· eating habits and so on.
To most people “Dharam” defines a particular group’s rules and regulations. These are used to govern individuals’s social values, religious behavior and lifestyle.
A person is born into a family and will be raised in the cultural set up of the environment surrounded by his own family.
The family in turn operates under the umbrella of the particular sect of the society. That is what is responsible for building the values and concepts of an individual as far as the character, behavior, the outlook, the religious values and other social behavior patterns are concerned.
For example, a baby born into a Sikh family is given a Sikh Dharam. If the same baby had been born into a Hindu family he would be called a Hindu. Then the baby would be brought up with the family’s religious values and practices. The baby would grow up with the particular group’s :
· social behavior,
· social values,
· language,
· eating habits,
· dressing patterns and so on.
The baby has been taught to become part of one particular group. His practises and beliefs will be different to other groups. Each group gives themselves a name eg Hindu religion, Sikh religion, Christian religion, Islam and so on.
These divisions of society, or to be more accurate, these divisions of the humanity, these divisions of the human race into various sects are just man made creations. These boundaries between so called different sects of humanity, the human race are just man made creations. These divisions are never present in divinity and divine wisdom. Divine wisdom says:
“Manas Ki Jaat Sabhey Ek Hi Pechanbo”
Recognise the human race as one.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
In the real sense of divinity and spirituality, in the real sense of Gurmatt – the divine wisdom, there is no eternal truth in the man made boundaries. The only eternal truth is the humanity or the human race or the human life, which is the most precious and most beautiful creation of the Creator.
The eternal truth is that we are all human beings only and all of us are born from the same Jyot – Light of God:
First, Allah created the Light;
then, by His Creative Power, He made all mortal beings.
From the One Light, the entire universe welled up.
So who is good, and who is bad? ||1||
SGGS 1349
“Ek Noor” – One Light – is the Creator and all of us are born from the same Creator. So where is the question of having a division based on the sects of the society, when the Creator created us all as human beings?
Where is the question of various different religions all over the world, when the Creator has created only one race – the Human Race – One Junie – the Human Junie?
When the Creator recognizes us all as one Jaat – race – Manas Ki Jaat – human race, then where is the question of divisions in to different religions or Dharams?
Therefore, there is only one religion, there is only one Dharam, and that Dharam is the Almighty Himself. And he is the One who creates the rules and laws under which the human being is required to exist, live, perform, act and react.
His constitution is the Divine Commandments, which are the divine laws framed by Him for us “THE HUMAN RACE”. The foundation of His Kingdom or the foundation of Himself, or the foundation of this most beautiful and precious creation of His – Human Race is the Eternal Truth – “SAT”.
He is “SAT ROOP” because He Himself is the Eternal Truth. He is the only one Who is the Truth. Absolutely everything else is perishable and is just a part of Maya. Only He is the One who is beyond the three attributes of Maya: Trihu Gun Tey Parey.
All His divine rules and laws direct the Human Race to be absorbed in the Eternal Truth, to stay as His “SAT SAROOP”, and nothing less than that. To stay beyond the three attributes of Maya, to be like Him. This is the true and Divine meaning of the Dharam.
To be like Him is the Dharam.
To be Truthful is the Dharam.
To be a “SACHYARA” is the Dharam.
To be able to see, speak, hear, deliver and serve the truth is the Dharam.
To stay as a human being in its eternal true essence (like a baby in the Jyot) is the Dharam.
To always stay as one with Him is the Dharam.
To remain merged in Him is the Dharam and this is the religion in eternal reality.
The true religion exists in that soul and mind which is beyond the three attributes of Maya. The word “Dharam” therefore, signifies that Akal Purakh Himself is the definition of Dharam. The “SAT TATT” the eternal truth, and therefore, to become like Him will be to become a “SACHYARA”. A completely truthful person
· from inside out,
· without any hypocrisy,
· no duality,
· no Pakhand,
· no animosity,
· single vision,.
The real and divine meaning of word “Dharam” is that Dharam is only a yardstick for measuring the truth, and eternal truth and nothing but eternal truth.
Sukhmani says:
Of all religions, the best religion
is to chant the Name of the Lord and maintain pure conduct.
SGGS 266
This will make you follow the real divine religion of becoming a “SAT SAROOP” (Embodiment of Truth) and that is the soul and mind where the Almighty resides.
In light of the above discussion, the divine meaning of Dharam is to follow the Divine wisdom direct from God, and not the man-made divisions of religion. The eternal essence (sat tatt) of the word “Dharam” is a set of rules, regulations and divine laws for us to remain under the :
· unlimited Kingdom of the Almighty
· the Kingdom of eternal truth
· the Kingdom of spirituality and
· the Kingdom of divinity.
These divine laws have been there from the beginning. They are here now. And they will remain here forever. Anybody who follows these laws of Eternity will be able to enjoy this Kingdom of Akal Purakh. They will be able to enjoy the eternal blessings and the real eternal Dharam – religion.
These divine laws are very clearly and well defined in Gurbani. They were exercised by the Guru Sahibans, Sants and Bhagats and promoted to be used by the masses. They were compiled in the form of a “Consitution of Eternity’s Kingdom” in Shree Guru Granth Sahib Ji. The entire Gurbani is the definition and very detailed description of these divine laws.
For ease of understanding and without getting in to the details of the entire Gurbani, we have put some of these divine laws formulated and kept in the Mansarovar – unlimited sea of divine light – Puran Param Jyot Puran Param Parkash. These divine gifts are available to everyone around the entire creation. They are same for all of us. They never change. They will remain intact forever, and they are listed below:
1. Full and complete belief, trust, faith, Shardha, Preet, devotion with unconditional love and commitment in and to the Gur, Guru and Gurbani
2. Full and complete surrender to the Gur and Guru: Tan Munn Dhann Sabh Tera; Tan Munn Dhann Sabh Saup Guru Ko. The Guru is great and very kind, if you give 10% of your time and earnings to the Guru and follow His words, He will pay for the remaining 90% from His own pocket.
3. Giving 10% of your time to the Guru. Spend this time in Amrit Vela to do Naam Simran: “Prabh Kaa Simran Sabh Tey Oonchaa”. This is the highest service of the Almighty and this is the only means of cleaning you up from inside and keep you like that and eventually take you beyond the three attributes of Maya. This is the only way you can win over your mind. Win over Five thieves and desires. And win over Maya completely.
4. Always pray for Gur Parsaad. Nothing can be done by you. Everything that happens is in Hukam. The will of God prevails no matter what happens. Only by having Gur Parsaad can you live under the Will of God without any issues. Gur Parsaad will bring Naam inside you. It will take you to Jivan Mukti – salvation.
5. Always see, speak, hear, deliver and serve the Truth. This is the highest service to Almighty.
6. Exercise utmost humbleness in your communication with others. Consider yourself the lowest of the lowest: “Aapas Ko Jo Janey Neecha So Hi Ganye Sabh Tey Ooncha”. Consider everybody else is above you. Concentrate on self reformation. Don’t point fingers to others. Keep the finger pointed to yourself. Humbleness is the only weapon to kill your Haumai – ego. Utmost humbleness and humility – Garibi Ves Hirda. Utmost Nimrata (humilty) inside is the key to the Kingdom of Akal Purakh – Dargah of Akal Purakh.
7. Delete “me, mine and my” from your conversations and communications. Always keep in mind that your existence is due to the life element inside you. And this is due to the Eternal Jyot inside you. There is God inside you. Always keep this Eternal Jyot element which is the “SAT TATT” and the “PARAM TATT” above you. Use “we, ours and us” in your communications by keeping this divine element recognized all the time inside you.
8. Accept your sins and bad deeds. Open confession in the sangat is the way to wash your sins and clean you up from inside. To make you truthful and take you closer to the Creator.
9. Do not involve yourself in any kind of negative criticism (Slander), gossip (Gossiping) and jealousy (Jealousy).
10. Do not hurt anybody’s heart (Hirda). Unconditional love for all His creations will determine how much you love Him. There is no place for hatred for anybody in the Mansarovar – Amrit Sagar Nirgun Saroop. Unconditional love with devotion and sacrifice is the language of Almighty. Only love, sacrifice and service with devotion can bring you closer to the Almighty.
11. Don’t crave for anything. Thank the Almighty for everything He has given you and keeps on giving you. Remain contented in whatever you have and whatever you are getting. Desires are the root cause of all the problems.
12. Exercise forgiveness in your day to day communications with others. This is the way to control your anger. Wherever there is forgiveness there is God. Forgiveness is a divine quality and brings kindness inside us. Together these divine qualities will make your heart very vital. You will not have any hatred and animosity with any one. This will make you single vision – Ik Drisht. You will become Nirvair, which is one of the most vital qualities of divinity. Forgiveness will make you anger free. Anger and ego are complementary to each other. Anger comes due to ego and ego brings in anger. So both these mental sicknesses will become your slaves, they will not hurt you.
13. When you give 10% (Dasvandh) of your earnings to charity, you will eventually become greedless. The feeling of greed prompted deeds you have been committing will start to diminish. Your heart will become kind, loving and sacrificing, serving the poor and needy. This will eventually relieve you of the Greed – greed, which is another deep mental sickness.
14. Consider your family and friends, your parents and children as a Sangat and serve them with the same feeling and in the same way you serve the Gur-Sangat. Love them and respect them the same way you do to Gur-Sangat. This will remove the “Attachment” (selfish love) from your inside and will convert it to the real deep divine love with compassion and sense of sharing and sense of selflessness and sacrifice in your Hirda.
15. Other than your wife, respect every women as either your sister, mother or daughter. Other than your husband, respect every male as either brother, father and son. This will remove the feeling of lust (Lust) from your inside. This is a deep mental sickness and can be cured by exercising this rule.
16. Delete the past, don’t think about the future and seize the current moment. Be truthful in your current moment. Engage yourself in truthful and only truthful deeds at the current moment. Once your current moment is truthful your future will be truthful. Eventually this will erase all the negative effects of the past from your deeds (Deeds). A truthful deeds is the key to shape your own destiny. To shape your own future, if your present is truthful your future will eventually come very rewarding.
17. Practice Gurbani in your daily life. Whatever little bit you understand, please bring that eternal essence inside yourself right away by practicing it in your daily life. Gurbani is an eternal prescription for all your problems and mental and physical ailments. By doing “Naam Ki Kamai” (earning Naam) and practicing Gurbani you will be able to eliminate all these sicknesses from your mind, soul and body. This will make them absolutely clean of the scum of Maya. Watch your daily deeds in light of the Gurbani and keep on reforming it for ever. There is no end to the divine qualities. You will be bringing in these priceless jewels of divinity inside you. This will reform you completely from inside out. Eventually you will become a Puran Sachyara (Completely Truthful one) and the Sachyaar (Truth Almighty) will come inside your Hirda for ever.
18. Involve yourself in Seva with devotion and love. Do a selfless service to the others. Serve the poor and needy. Serve the orphans. Serve the sick. Serve your own family with love and devotion.
Always remember that the highest service to the Almighty is Naam Simran. And all the above points when exercised with Naam Simran will bring in tremendous rewards and results and will make your life
· sublime,
· full of eternal enjoyment,
· full of happiness,
· full of eternal blessings
· and eventually your spiritual dreams will come true.
You will become a Sant Hirda, you will become Jivan Mukt and will be able to achieve your objective of this life by being one with Almighty, and this is the real Dharam.
Dassan Das (Slave Of God’s Slaves)