ਆਨੰਦ

The fundamental truth of life is that every creature is seeking bliss, consciously or unconsciously. Not only human beings, but animals, plants, birds, insects and all the other living beings are looking for bliss. This entire creation is seeking bliss, because it is our basic nature. Basically we are all blessed. That is why we are here. But we have allowed a myriad of petty things to come and settle on our intrinsic nature and we have forgotten our true self. Just as dust settles on the mirror and you cannot see your reflection clearly, there is the dust of lust, anger, greed, attachment and ego on the clear sky of our consciousness that has blurred our vision. There is the dust of our centuries of conditioning, the compulsions of living in society, the pretence that comes with civilisation and many such compulsions that have distorted our vision collectively. So much so that we are not even aware that life can be much more than just being tossed about in the dual throng of birth and death, joys and sorrows, good and bad, right and wrong and so on.

We have lost sight of the fact that we are basically in a state of bliss. This world is dancing in ecstasy. It is continuously celebrating the never-ending festival of life. The suns, moons and stars have lit up the stage; the orchestra of trees, plants, and all the vegetation are playing the music and the rivers and trees, birds and animals are singing the divine song. In such a blissful atmosphere, why is man in misery? One thing is for sure that Nature did not intend to make you miserable. If you are miserable, it is your doing. If you are sad, it means you are doing something wrong. Your sorrows are not given to you; you create them yourself. What is given to you is bliss which you have forgotten completely.

All misery exists to indicate to you that somewhere you have gone wrong, you have gone off the track. Come back immediately! How? Listen to your body, listen to nature, listen to your inner being. And watch the change; look at the difference it makes; see how you become happier. The secret is: Pause! Stop running! Listen! Stop chattering!

You can be free of misery, because it is not your intrinsic nature. It has been brought from the outside. Misery is not inside you. When somebody abuses you, you take that in and feel miserable. And the more you dwell on it the more you feel miserable. It is like fanning the fire that will go on spreading and eventually burn you. It will consume you. Misery was not inside you; you took it in from the outside. Isn’t it ironical that you suffer for no fault of your own? It was the other person who committed something which has made you miserable. In other words, you have allowed yourself to be miserable. You could have left it outside and you could be in bliss, because bliss is inside. Bliss is your true nature.

Bliss is your birthright. It is already given to you. You have only lost sight of it. All you need to do is change the direction of the arrow of consciousness inwards and you will find it there. But, we seek it everywhere else. Some of us go looking for it in money, power, position and love. Others run to temples, mosques and gurdwaras. But everyone is running away from himself, searching for bliss outside. Even the person who spends his lifetime accumulating wealth is also just looking for bliss. The hunger for power and position is also to fill the vacuum inside. But, all the money or power of the world cannot fill that emptiness. The more you get the more you will feel let down by it. It would have looked attractive when you were struggling to achieve it, but once you have it, it loses its charm and becomes worthless. You begin to wonder why you went after it in the first place.

On the other hand, bliss is your true nature. You can’t find it anywhere else. It is within you. But, it is covered with the dust of conditioning over the centuries. You have completely forgotten about it. Therefore, it may not be possible for you to get back to it without the help of a master, a guru. A guru is one who has seen the problem clearly and has found a solution. He is the only one who can state the problem for you and show you the way he solved it. But, he cannot walk on the path for you. You will have to walk on it yourself, step by step.

Anand is a state of being when you can be with the creator all the time. It is when you realise that God is not somewhere far away, but right here and now, in your heart and everywhere outside. God is not a belief, or imagination, or a thought or a philosophical idea. God is existence itself. All that exists is God. God is the green in the trees, the red in the rose. God is that which is invisible in the breezes; and stands tall in the mountains; that which flows in the rivers and dances in the waves of the ocean. God is another word for existence. There is nothing that is not divine. It is only when this understanding becomes your realisation that you can be with God all the time, with every breath and every fibre of your body. Understanding is purely intellectual whereas realization is when this understanding permeates over your whole being. Understanding is the first step on the journey and realization is the last.

You are in a state of bliss when you hear Him in poetry, in music, in the laugh of a baby, in the sigh of an old man. You are in a state of bliss when you come close to nature. He is hiding behind it. Nature is the veil He has worn. Lift the veil and you will find Him everywhere. And, mind you, that veil is not outside; it is a film within yourself that has distorted your vision. Remove it and you will be amazed how you had missed seeing Him all this while.

Bliss is like the rays of the sun. The sun has risen but you are sleeping in your dark room with all the doors and windows closed. It will not wake you up; it does not intrude. It waits outside silently. It does not knock on your door. It does not make the slightest sound, lest your sleep is disturbed, lest your dream is broken. Bliss does not enter anybody’s house forcibly. And, if you are not thirsty, then no one can arouse that thirst in you. Where is the need to make you thirsty? It is life’s experience that will take you to that space where thirst is born, sooner or later. Whenever it happens, it happens naturally, like the flowers blossom when spring comes.

Gurbani says:

Basant charhya phuli banraye.

Eh jee jant phuley Hari chit laye.

Inn bidh eh mann harya hoye.

Har Har naam japey din raati gurmukh haumey kadey dhoye.

Satgur bani sabad sunaye.

Eh jag harya satgur bhaye.

Phal phul lagey ja aapey laye.

Mool lagey ta satgur paye.

Aap basant jagat sabh varhi.

Nanak poorey bhag bhagat nirali. (GGS 1177)

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With the coming of spring the kingdom of plants has blossomed.

Similarly, the other living beings blossom in remembrance.

That is how we are rejuvenated

By remembering Him day and night and washing away the ego.

And listening to the sound that has brought everything to life.

The flowers and fruits are blessings from above

If the roots are securely dug in the earth of remembrance.

You are the spring in the garden of existence.

Only the blessed ones can experience it.