The Guru and the Beloved - the key to realisation

I got this in an email...from my bro Rishipal Singh:

"Hi

Haven't sent anything out in a while so im guessing you guys have had a break but any way thought I would break my silence.

One thought has been caressing my mind lately.

My dad as a child once asked me the question if God and Guru Nanak Dev Ji were standing side by side(Lets just assume for a second that this is happening and that they are different entities) then who would you bow before?

I thought this was such a silly question and didn't pay much attention I don't think I gave much thought to it, I don't think I gave a reply. I was as stubborn then as I am now. My dad then went walking in the corridor reciting something which I thought to be bani.

After many years I then heard it again and all of a sudden like a wave smashing against the cliffs of Dover, the understanding came. I realised what I was hearing and i recalled this story from my childhood. Since then every day all I have thought about is that line. The line I will now share with you. Many of you would know this line already, many may not, many wont care and many perhaps wont understand like me.

So I repeat the question If God and Guru were standing side by side who would you fall infront of? What would be your answer?


Bhagat Kabir Sahib Says.

Gur Gobind Dono Khare, Kis kai lago paye, Balhari Gur Apnai Jin Gobind Diya Milaye.

The Guru and God are standing side by side, to whom do I fall infront of? I will die in front of my Guru who has united me with my Lord.

Before those of us who are sikh start running to sikhitothemax (assuming this is what you would do) this is not in Guru Granth Sahib but is a part of Kabirs dohay. Writings from Kabirs later work. His earlier work according to some is what is included in Guru Granth Sahib. The Message is a profound and its realisation beyond words.

So why has Kabir Ji said this? Why did Kabir, Guru Nanak, Bulleh Shah, Farid Ji et al place so much emphasis on a Guru?

Guru Granth Sahib says

Guru Bhin Ghor Andar, Guru Bin Samaj Na Avai

Without the Guru there is utter darkness, Without the Guru understanding and wisdom is not achieved.

Ego is a disease that is inflicted on the mind. It allows a veil of ignorance to exist. It blocks the reasoning of the individual to realise who and what it really is and what it was once apart of. To realise who and what we really are, to realise that we are nothing but the energy,the virbration, the colour, the beauty the music, the image of God, we must first lose the ego that tries to delude us.





How do we lose this Ego?

Through the blessings and the teachings and the expression as shown by the Guru. This Guru for Sikhs is Guru Granth Sahib, for Hindus it is the message as contained in shastras simratees and puranas as evaluated in the upinshads and the Geeta, for the Muslim it is the Quran and the ways of the Prophet (pbuh) as described in the Hadiths and for the Christian it is the teachings of Jesus as documented in the Bible.

The Guru is needed to show the way, to lose the ego so one can use the gifts given to them and to look within them and feel and experience this resonance they truly are.

So why bow infront of the Guru when meeting God?

The Guru has guided you throughout the hard times. It is through the Gurus instruction we have found our Beloved. But in seconds ego can make its return. It is the final test of ego. For even in the dying stages it can return. The Guru has got us so far and then at the end the soul can still forget and then again it will wander around perturbed for the ego has allowed the soul to seperate again. But without the Guru this realisation would not have come. This is why Kabir says.


Balhari Gur apnai jin Gobind diya milai.

I'll bow to my Guru who is the one who merged me with my Beloved. Who showed me the way home. It is the Guru who leads us there for the Guru and the Beloved are one.
Gur Parmesar Ekho jaan.

Thanks for reading."