The opening line of Asa-di-Var is about the darkness all around. What is this darkness? We know of the darkness of night, but that is dispelled by the first rays of the sun. Yet Guru Nanak says that not a hundred moons or a thousand suns can dispel the darkness. He is obviously referring to a different kind of darkness than the physical darkness we are familiar with.
He is talking about the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of unconsciousness, the darkness of slumber. Have you ever realised that when you are asleep and dreaming, the real world disappears for you; and when you are awake the dream world does not exist for you. And, this happens to us every day. Then, is it not possible that there is a reality of which we are totally unaware? We don’t even know what it is, so how can we realise it. The ignorance of it is the darkness he refers to.
Knowledge of the material world is there in abundance. While scientists have demystified the material world to a large extent, the poets, artists, and writers have enriched our understanding of our thoughts, feelings, moods and emotions. But, is this all? Do we know the answer to the most fundamental question: Who am I? This is the darkness of ignorance he refers to.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge has the power to transform. Knowledge of the material world has transformed the world spectacularly. How much the world has changed since the Stone Age! Similarly, knowledge of the self can transform you. There is pitch darkness inside. Not a hundred moons or a thousand suns can remove that darkness. Yet, there is hope. Just as a single candle can dispel the darkness in a room, the arrow of awareness, if directed inwards, can remove the darkness inside.
All religions centre round the basic requirement: Know thyself. We know about almost everything under the sun, except our self. Ironically, the more we know about everything else, the less attention we pay to knowing our self. Indeed, it seems that science and technology has been developed to occupy the minds of men so he need not be alone for a single moment. And, you cannot even begin to look within when you are constantly on the run. We have lost touch with ourselves. We are so pre-occupied with everything else, except ourselves. Isn’t it ironical that we need to go to the doctor to find out what is wrong with us. We alien to ourselves. First we lost touch with nature and then we lost touch with ourselves. Now, we live almost fully automated lives. We move about like machines, not knowing what we are doing and why. We are like the man who jumped into a cab and told the driver to drive fast. When asked ‘where to’, he said, “That doesn’t matter. But drive at full speed.”
In this state of frenzied haste, it is not possible for us to find the way that can lead us back to ourselves. Only the Guru will be able to help. In Asa-di-Var, the Guru shows the path.
