"Discipleship (Gursikhi)"

                                                      Dhan Nirankar Ji…..

 A story is there in the great tradition of Discipleship (Gursikhi), according to which one female dancer asks a disciple if his (devotee’s) beard is better than her dog’s tail? Devotee keeps silence in response. At the time of his demise, Devotee asked the surrounding people to call that female dancer . Upon such utterance, people started whispering that at this time of death, where the Saint’s mind is wandering? People started suspecting his patience, faith, devotion etc. At last his last wish was fulfilled. That dancer was called. Saint asked her,” You daily asked whether my beard is better or your dog’s tail? Today I can say that my beard is a Million time better than your dog’s tail because I have been able to endure myself with my Lord Master. Sacred Bani says:

Paani bharan panihariyaan ranga rang ghade,

Bhareya usda janiye, jisda tod chadhe.

Here, the pitcher has been praised, that only that girl’s pitcher can be said as full of water , whose pitcher reaches the destination safely. The pitcher which gets damaged during the path way, is termed as a finished one. Pitcher and water both comes to an end. Even the hardwork or labour of filling water also goes rewardless.

Body is a pitcher. Water is filled in it, in the form of our belief, cognitions, deeds and actions. The destination is across death. The balance or equilibrium of Belief, cognitions and actions are required to be maintained. Attention should be towards God so that the water of belief, cognitions, deeds and actions remains pure until death. If this purity is maintained then the beard can be said as extreme beautiful. Beard has become a symbol of devotion obligation. The process of living in devotion and continuously proceeding in this way is called Discipleship (Gursikhi). A marvelous example can be taken of Shri Guru Amardas Sahib. Even after attaining old age, he used to bring water from a river for his Lord Master to bath. He used to wash his (Lord Master’s) clothes. It was a magnificent service by Guru Amarnath Ji. Once Lord Master ordered Him at midnight that it is morning now and go for washing clothes. Alike a dedicated disciple, Guru Ji left for washing the clothes. Later on Lord Master said that day has broken now, it was midnight then. Why did you go out to wash clothes at that time?

As a disciple Guru Ji replied, “O my Lord Master, if you point out a night as a morning, then it is morning for me. And if you utter a morning as a night, then it means a night for me.

Some people can term it as a superstition or a blind faith but it is a sign of endless faith. This kind of faith is built not on any external situation, but on a deep trust or faith. This kind of faith emerges after determination of Lord Master. Lord Master is determined by God knowledge.

Devotion does not change in accordance to situation. Situation is either externally favorable or opposite, devotee’s mind is always attached to Almighty God, due to which the tide of favorable-contrary never influence Disciple and he always accept God’s will. The desires created by mind, never tastes sweet until and unless mind is attached to Almighty God. A devotee’s mind never creates hurdles for him to achieve the target because God always remains in his mind.

Upon analyzing the word Disciple ‘Gursikh’ , we find two gists:

1. Extreme faith in Lord Master.

2. Gist of always learning.

For a Disciple (Gursikh), existence of Lord Master is required. It is almost impossible for building up of Discipleship's (Gursikhi’s) base without surrendering before Lord Master. Lord Master’s orders and preaching are the base of a Disciple (Gursikh). It is Lord Master who teaches the way of being ineffected while passing out of illusory world of senses even after leading a worldly life. If the mind survives the effect of illusory world of senses, only then one can escape from the concept of arrogance otherwise arrogance delicately alike mouse will surely cut and chop the devotee’s devotional senses. Devotional senses provide the capability to learn. A small child can appear like a preacher.

A king after being defeated, was hidden in a cave. His aim was to save his life, empire was already lost. He saw that few ants were climbing on the cave’s wall. As the wall was not smooth, they were unable to climb properly. They fell down often but kept on trying again and again. Finally they all managed to reach the top of the wall. King learnt a lesson to not to lose hope upon failures. One should never give up hope and should try again and again. “If ants doesn’t give up upon certain failures, then being a man why should I give up “, thought the King. Now king’s aim and objectives were clear. Ant became a teacher here because of absence of any pride or arrogance in Kingdom.

If arrogance is absent under a circumstance, it can arise in another situation. To overcome arrogance, one has to be calm under the water Nirankar – the formless. One who lives in water , dirt runs away. In the same manner one who lives under the shadow of Nirankar, God keeps the evils away from him (Devotee).

Discipleship (Gursikhi) is a name of few qualities- Patience, Gratitude, Tolerance, Faith etc. It is not so easy to adopt these qualities, but it is also not impossible. Just as a housewife while cooking pulses (Dal), distinct small pebble of stones out of Dal, in the same way a Gursikh (Devotee) picks the stones of impatience, Intolerance, Narrowness out. When such stones are picked out, whatever remains in life is called summary.

Summary is always handled with care, preserved. Lord Master (Satguru) always preserves, saves the Disciples (Gursikhs) that is why their names are still alive. They have got themselves placed in the heart of people, not because of their statues over roads but due to their mature deeds.

Now the question arises that Discipleship (Gursikhi) is found in Sacred scriptures, Is it possible currently? After thinking and confessing, we find that the path of devotion is as easy as difficult. If Sajjan Thagg, Korha rakshas, Bhumiya chor, Ganika vaishya etc can be transformed into a Gursikh, then anyone can do so. Opportunities are available- just solid determination is required as them.  

                              Dhan Nirankar Ji…..