THE MOST HORRIBLE DISEASE IN THE WORLD Everyone desires to be happy, everyone desires to be healthy yet we're all unhappy and all unhealthy to various degrees due to the effects of the most horrible disease in the world - which we ourselves have allowed to dominate and wreak havoc on our lives - that being the disease of egotism. Our Gurus have stated again and again within our sacred Sri Guru Granth Sahib which is our final authority on all spiritual matters that we cannot progress spiritually, or pursue truth nor really love God unless we first reduce and ultimately completely eliminate this disease of egotism. Since spiritual evolution is the purpose of human life, the importance of conquering the false and misleading ego cannot be overstated. On this issue Guru Nanak states: The True One merges in Himself, he in whom egotism and egoism stand eliminated. * Guru Amar Das Ji - Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) page 35 Again and again, we hear and tell stories; we read and write and understand loads of knowledge, but still, desires increase day and night, and the disease of egotism fills us with corruption. That Carefree Lord cannot be appraised, His Real Value is known only through the Wisdom of the Guru's Teachings. * Guru Nanak Dev Ji - SGGS page 20. Above and beyond all things, our final authority the Sri Guru Granth Sahib shows us again and again that Wahe Guru (God) alone is everything and in everything, that Wahe Guru is all there is, that Paramatama (another label for the Infinite) being the sole source substance within all things is the Sole Experiencer, Observer, and Doer of all things. Our Gurus state this truth again and again as follows: Everything the Lord Himself is. There is no second. When that Lord Himself causes us to speak, we speak just as He wants us to speak. * Guru Ram Das Ji - SGGS page 39 The One Lord is within thy home (body) and the One without (all else). He Himself is found within all places. * Guru Arjan Dev Ji - SGGS page 45 Whatever extension of the world that is visible, that all is Thou O' Lord. * Guru Arjan Dev Ji - SGGS page 51 So the million dollar question is that if as is stated in our Sri Guru Granth Sahib that Wahe Guru is everything (just as an ocean is within every wave on it's surface), then why can we not see this truth? Why instead of seeing the One true reality in all things everywhere do we see various forms, colors, sizes, separateness, differences, etc, etc? Since this world is a drama created by Wahe Guru within Himself for His own Self-expression and Self-experience (Raab Di Lila), the reason we cannot realize Him as the sole reality is because He has created us with 5 very limited senses of perception which like a TV stuck on only one channel show us only one limited reality, showing our mind an illusion of separateness and differences between all things when in reality everything is completely interconnected. Our limited mind then falsely believes that this body is also separate and distinct from all things on the 'outside', and unconsciously creates a feeling within this body of 'I', 'ME' and 'MINE' which makes us feel like individuals that are separate to 'THEM' on the 'outside.' This false feeling of 'I', 'ME' and 'MINE' results in the formation of the ego, which is a completely false because it cannot even exist without the first thought 'I' which arises from our mind's sub-conscious reaction to false information coming from our 5 very limited senses (even eagles have wider vision than us, etc). The effects of the false ego results in our daily lives as the 5 vices our Gurus have spoken about so often namely kam (lust), krodh (anger), lobh (greed), moh (attachment) and ahankaar (pride). However, these 5 can never exist without homai (ego) and this ego cannot never exist without the deep rooted false thought of I, ME and MINE. So rather than trying to fight the effect of wrong thinking (the 5 vices) our Gurus advise us that it's wiser and more productive to tackle the cause of the whole chain, to tackle the very root of the whole problem - by eliminating false thoughts of I, ME and MINE within the mind through consistent immersion in the truth that Wahe Guru alone is the sole reality in all things, that separateness and individuality are merely an illusion painted by the 5 very limited senses of perception. The Law of Conservation states you can only get out of something exactly that which you first put into it - no more - no less. So since you can never really give what you don't have, and since our body and these 3 rascals (mind, ego, senses) live within Wahe Guru and have no individual existence of their own separate from Wahe Guru, they cannot truly ever give separateness or individuality to us, and in reality can only feed us a very intense illusion of separateness (by limiting our perception & awareness of the whole of reality by showing us only a very small part). Unlike the true saints who have a broader and clearer vision of reality, within our minds most of us accept the limited reality painted by the very limited senses without question and end up deeply believing that we are separate beings who act according to our own individual free will. We fail to recognize that our body and the 3 limited rascals couldn't even exist without Wahe Guru as the life source within them and that therefore only Wahe Guru Himself can ultimately and truly be the real Doer and Observer of everything !! Our perception of our lower limited 'self' (which most think of as only the body and mind) then is merely a very intense but completely false illusion whereas our real unlimited higher Self is Wahe Guru. In the highest reality then - since Wahe Guru is our real Self and our real Self is also the same Self in all else, whatever we do to others we are really doing to ourselves which is why all true saints proclaim 'Jo bijey, so khawaey' ('As you sow, so shall you reap'). On the truth of Wahe Guru being our real higher and deeper Self our Gurus state: By recognizing his own self, man abides in his own home and his ego and desire depart. * Guru Nanak Dev Ji - SGGS page 57 He who recognizes God within himself and is pierced through with his name is satisfied. * Guru Nanak Dev Ji - SGGS page 60 The foolish and ignorant man recognizes not the Creator who is within his self. Because of the love of duality, he instructs the world and himself understands not Divine Knowledge. He loses his life in vain and dies and is born again and again. * SGGS page 86 Having a false and completely misleading map of reality due to the intense illusion of separateness created by our limited mind, ego and senses, through ignorance we pursue unhealthy patterns of thought and behavior towards ourselves and others. As a result of this illusion, our ego if left alone automatically dominates our thoughts & actions which is a very dangerous state of affairs for it is a universal law that: EGOTISM DIVIDES AND RESULTS IN DISHARMONY, UNHAPPINESS AND HATRED - WHEREAS THE REDUCTION OR IDEALLY COMPLETE ELIMINATION OF EGO RESULTS IN UNITY, HARMONY, HAPPINESS, LOVE AND THE DIRECT REALIZATION OF WAHE GURU AS ONE'S REAL SELF AND THE TRUE SELF OF ALL. The ego is our most dangerous enemy because it binds us to the laws of Maya (the world illusion) by creating an intense but completely false appearance of separateness and individuality where none really exist. Maya is believing the unreal (the impermanent world illusion) to be real and the real (everlasting Wahe Guru) to be unreal. Wherever there is disharmony, unhappiness, misunderstanding and hatred it can only be as a result of the effects of that king of liars the ego which always leads us to ignorance. Due to the effects of the ego alone we find in Gurudwaras the world over people who have little true love for God or little desire for genuine service to God lusting for positions on some little committee, or unwilling to listen to others and work as a team foolishly thinking they always know best. Often we find such types posing on the outside as pious spiritual devotees but internally they are burning with lust for status and respectability (name & fame), control of a Gurudwara - ultimately to be seen as important people in the eyes of the whole Sangat (whom they think consists of people separate from themselves, the illusion of separateness again created by the ego). Due to the efforts of these 3 rascals (limited mind, ego and senses) they fail to see that the One Wahe Guru alone is their real inner Self and that their real inner Self (Wahe Guru) is also the same inner Self of the whole Sangat, and all else in the universe !! Is it not the height of insanity to lust for status and respectability and control so one can feel proud & important in front of one's own Self which is everywhere? And yet such is the madness when we act from the level of the inflated ego. In any spiritual organization when those who do not have the right intention and genuine love for God within their hearts take on any type of leadership positions from the level of ego, the results are always negative and divisive. In a world where by God's own deliberate design we are all mis-lead to varying degrees by the 3 rascals - the limited mind, ego and senses - there are bound to be misunderstandings and disagreements. However out of respect for our Gurus, within a spiritual setting such as a Gurudwara all misunderstandings and disagreements should always be settled amicably through spiritual principles, through calmness, with an absence of ego, with an effort to truly understand and with a spirit of mutual respect. To react to disagreements with hatred and division is to allow our egos to completely mislead us down the wrong path and completely violate every sacred principle taught by our Gurus. Wahe Guru does not care how much intelligence, status or possessions one has, He judges us not by what we say or do but purely upon the intention within our heart and our love of truth since He is the highest truth. If our intention is pure, our actions and results will be positive. If our speech and actions look pure but our inner intention is impure, no matter how pretty our speech or lofty looking our actions on the surface, there can only be impure and negative results. We can fool all the people some of the time, we can even fool some of the people all of the time, but we can never fool for an instant He who is within our very heart. On this truth our Gurus state: When pain comes, then, do I call on Thee. Thou art everywhere and in everything, I thought Thee distant. Whatever I do, that is in Thine presence. * Guru Nanak Dev Ji - SGGS page 25 From whom dost thou hide thine evil deeds, since the ever present Lord is beholding thee? My fully pervading Lord is pervading in all places. * Guru Arjan Dev Ji - SGGS page 48 Our Gurus recognized clearly that spiritual leadership should only be given to those who have the right intention within their hearts. For this reason Guru Nanak Dev Ji did not give the Guruship to even his own son and handed it instead to Guru Angad Dev Ji, in whom he recognized the absence of ego, genuine love for God and the real spirit of service. Guru Nanak was completely aware that: He alone performs the service of the True Guru, who is rid of the affliction of ego. * Guru Arjan Dev Ji - SGGS page 45 Whenever a Sangat splits anywhere in this world, it is always as a result of nothing but inflated egos either lusting for respectability, status, control of a Gurudwara, etc in order to feel important in front of their peers or due to outright disrespect between groups again due to the ego. The only people who can ever actually divide a Sangat however are those who CHOOSE not to attend their Gurudwara over petty issues that can effortlessly be resolved once that demon the ego is subdued through the spiritual principles of our Gurus. One God given responsibility of all parents is to help their offspring learn the profound spiritual principles revealed by their Gurus, however these days the world over the younger generation shows little real interest in their own spiritual heritage mainly because they are completely uninspired by the sheer insincerity and hypocrisy of the manner in which their elders practice their faith. When they sense that the intention within their elders is impure due to over-inflated egos they become uninspired and when they sense that the intention within their elders is pure they become inspired, interested and only then are truly influenced the message of our Gurus. Ultimately our Gurus did not want us to merely become blind and dry followers of a ritualized religion because in their wisdom they knew that an organized religion lacking the true spirit of Wahe Guru always divides and enslaves one to limited dogmas and beliefs. A shallow and ultimately false pursuit of God without the real spirit always results in misery and the pursuit of empty rituals where people are merely going through the motions as was the case with Hinduism and Islam during their day. What they wanted instead was for us to truly walk the spiritual path, to directly realize the real living spirit of Paramatama within and in ALL things, because through their direct experience they truly knew that spirituality alone unites, liberates and results in lasting peace and happiness, they saw clearly that: THIS WORLD ILLUSION IS ULTIMATELY NOTHING BUT THE SELF-EXPRESSION AND SELF-EXPERIENCING OF THE INFINITE WAHE GURU TO HIMSELF WITHIN HIMSELF This world illusion deeply and intensely saturates our consciousness with falsehood every minute of every day by severely limiting our perception of the whole of reality through the 3 rascals (our limited mind, ego and senses). As long as the awareness that Wahe Guru is the real Self of all is in our minds for mere intellectual entertainment, it will be like slippery water in an unsteady hand, there one moment and gone the very next time we're stimulated by the 'external' world. The only way for this supreme truth to truly affect our thoughts, speech, deeds and karma is for it to live deeply in our heart, for the heart is the center of our real being whilst the mind is merely it's reflection, just as the light of the moon is merely a reflection of the sun. And the only way for this truth to truly enter the heart permanently is by remaining completely saturated with and consistently immersed in the awareness that - Paramatama alone is the real Self within everything - day after day after day after day until it becomes a part of your very existence (this is the same principle behind the concept of a mantra).
As a result, although engaged in diverse activities in one's daily life, you
cannot be bound and fooled into egotistical thoughts and actions or be bound by the three
fold karma (for karma affects only the ego since the soul is always free). So true
realization of this reality removes the ego and all of the three types of karma for with
the absence of the ego there's nothing left for any karma to attach to !! Ultimately the
supreme truth of our Gurus can be stated a million different ways a million different
times, but can be summed up as simply as: EVERYTHING LIVES WITHIN PARAMATAMA... because … PARAMATAMA ALONE IS EVERYTHING
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