- 11/12/2023
Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 29.03.2019, Advait BodhSthal, Greater Noida, India
Context:
What is the meaning of spiritual battle?
What is religion?
How to understang Gurubani?
Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Context:
What is the meaning of spiritual battle?
What is religion?
How to understang Gurubani?
Why does spiritual sadhana take long to complete?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:02 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:04 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:31 Translation says, "Oh, Akal, give me this boon.
00:37 May I never, ever shirk from doing good deeds
00:54 that I shall not fear when I go into combat.
00:59 And with determination, I will be victorious.
01:04 That I may teach myself this greed alone
01:09 to speak only of thy praises.
01:13 And when the last days of my life come,
01:21 I may die in the might of the battlefield."
01:26 [END PLAYBACK]
01:27 With reference to the above verse,
01:36 I request you to elaborate on its significance
01:38 in today's world.
01:41 As I have always encountered this verse being
01:45 used as a battle anthem, it appears to me
01:48 that battles are not gross in our day-to-day life.
01:54 Then how to live a life in the light
01:56 of these beautiful verses of Guru Gobind Sahab?
02:16 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
02:45 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
02:51 All these refer to the same one, the same thing.
02:57 And when you see that obviously the guru
03:09 is talking of just one because he is devoted to just one,
03:17 then you realize what he is advising with respect
03:27 to your day-to-day practical life.
03:33 He says, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
03:44 So he is asking the Kalpurak, the Lord, the God,
03:56 he's asking Shiva that he should never deviate
04:05 from the path of auspicious deeds.
04:08 This in itself is a total and complete prayer.
04:20 But fortunately for us, there is more.
04:27 And that helps deepen the understanding of the seeker.
04:30 What has Guru Gobind Singh asked for?
04:36 Auspicious deeds.
04:37 And he says, I want nothing else.
04:40 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
04:43 Only this.
04:44 Nothing else do I want.
04:47 I should be committed to the good.
04:51 I should be committed to good deeds, auspicious deeds.
04:54 Then he further says, [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
04:59 So now you know what those auspicious deeds are.
05:04 Now those auspicious deeds are being
05:07 talked of in other words.
05:11 Now you are being given another angle
05:13 to look at those auspicious deeds from.
05:18 Now you are being given another way
05:22 to understand what those auspicious deeds are.
05:27 What are those auspicious deeds?
05:28 The auspicious deed is not to be afraid of the enemy
05:34 when you are in the middle of the fight.
05:38 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:42 Means the enemy.
05:44 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:48 Which battle is he talking of?
05:52 He's talking of the inner battle.
05:56 The ego sense wants to reach the truth, Shiva.
06:05 But is being misled, blocked, bewitched by prakriti.
06:16 That is the battle.
06:18 That inner battle can sometimes manifest as a worldly battle
06:21 as well.
06:21 But in essence, even the worldly battle is an inner battle.
06:31 Do you see what the battle looks like?
06:35 There is the ego sense.
06:38 It is being called by the truth.
06:40 But it is being mesmerized, enthralled,
06:48 or being violently stopped by the forces of prakriti, maya,
06:55 the world.
06:57 This is the battle.
07:00 The I sense, the ego is embattled.
07:04 On one hand is love.
07:06 On the other hand is the conditioning.
07:09 This same inner battle can outwardly
07:16 happen in a laboratory, in a battlefield,
07:25 in a legislative assembly, in a household, in a classroom,
07:34 in the streets, in a hospital, in a temple, anywhere.
07:42 But irrespective of where that outwardly battle apparently
07:46 happens, it is essentially an inner battle
07:50 in which the ego is poised between truth and maya.
07:57 I'm getting it.
08:12 Truth, enlighten, so it is attractive.
08:17 Maya, enthralls, so it is sometimes even more attractive.
08:22 Where to go?
08:27 That is the battle.
08:31 Outwardly, it may happen that sometimes, not always,
08:38 you have to fight a physical enemy for the sake
08:47 of your true love.
08:48 That too is essentially the same inner battle.
08:54 The one who is steadfastly fighting the inner battle
09:07 is as much of a warrior as the one
09:12 who is shedding blood in an external battlefield.
09:18 Both must be equally praised for their courage and valor.
09:22 But it's just that when we see blood being spilled,
09:31 it is a little more spectacular.
09:34 We feel a little more reverence.
09:37 But the outer warrior and the inner warrior
09:42 are in the same dimension.
09:43 Anybody who is fighting the force of maya is a warrior.
09:52 So Guru Gobind Sahib says,
10:01 [SPEAKING HINDI]
10:08 The enemy is big and severe.
10:10 And fear appears so natural.
10:18 Fear must not be natural, because fear is not your nature.
10:23 [SPEAKING HINDI]
10:25 Be determined.
10:27 Fight it out.
10:29 Your victory lies not in the outcome, but in the fight.
10:33 Victory is not the upshot of the battle.
10:39 Victory is the essence of the battle.
10:40 There is a great difference.
10:44 You must understand.
10:46 Prakriti programs you to look only at the upshots,
10:51 the results.
10:52 Are you getting it?
10:55 You tried hard.
10:57 You did not get the fruit.
10:58 As an ape, you are trying hard, and you did not get the fruit.
11:03 You'll sleep on an empty stomach.
11:05 And your condition would be no better
11:09 than another ape who is sleeping on an empty stomach
11:13 because he did not try at all.
11:16 Prakriti knows only results.
11:18 Prakriti respects only results.
11:21 Are you getting it?
11:23 There is a fire.
11:24 Both the saint and the sinner would die.
11:27 Because Prakriti is material, and material does not
11:29 care for enlightenment.
11:33 The result would be the same.
11:34 The material result would be the same in case of a fire.
11:38 Are you getting it?
11:40 In a spiritual battle, it is not the result that counts.
11:44 It is the battle that counts.
11:48 The battle is the victory.
11:50 To fight is to be victorious.
11:56 Are you getting it?
11:57 But if you look for an ultimate victory,
12:03 as sometimes those people who look for some ultimate event
12:10 called enlightenment, then you are just playing
12:19 by Prakriti's rules.
12:23 You have walked straight into the trap.
12:26 It is Prakriti that teaches you to go for one final result.
12:31 Aim it and get it.
12:33 And if you are targeting enlightenment,
12:35 then you are actually targeting to live
12:41 by an unenlightened Prakriti.
12:46 Because it's she who is teaching you
12:49 to live by accomplishments.
12:51 Are you getting it?
12:58 Just fight.
13:01 That's the jeet that the guru is talking of.
13:04 [SPEAKING HINDI]
13:19 And I know that my mind is desirous of something.
13:27 Feeling incomplete, it seeks something.
13:29 I will be a good student and teach my mind
13:36 that only one greed is acceptable--
13:42 the greed towards truth.
13:47 I will keep forever reciting the name of God.
13:51 I'll be attached to his name.
13:53 And that is the only worthwhile attachment.
13:56 You see, in this battle, I am facing something impossible.
14:12 I am fighting because I am body identified.
14:17 Had I not been body identified, there
14:19 would have been no need for any kind of spiritual practice
14:22 or seeking.
14:24 And because I am body identified,
14:26 so I feel incompleteness.
14:29 I feel attraction.
14:30 I feel attachment.
14:33 I feel greed, aversion, all these things.
14:36 So what do I do?
14:38 Here is a great method.
14:39 Target all your impulses towards God.
14:46 If you have greed, be greedy towards God.
14:51 If you have anger, be angry on not getting God.
14:56 If you are attached, be attached to the truth.
14:59 Target whatever you have towards him.
15:05 Use whatever you have towards him.
15:07 If you can sing, sing of him.
15:10 If you can run, run for him.
15:11 If you are given to thinking, try thinking of him.
15:20 If you are so emotional, turn your emotions towards him.
15:32 [SPEAKING HINDI]
15:48 And when the time has come, then I
15:53 should gladly disappear in both ways.
15:59 Neither should I be afraid of physical death,
16:04 nor should I be afraid of dissolution into you
16:09 when the opportunity comes.
16:10 Just as it is important that the warrior
16:17 in the physical battlefield is not afraid of physical death,
16:21 it is equally important that the warrior
16:23 in the spiritual battlefield is not afraid of dissolution
16:27 when it comes.
16:28 [SPEAKING HINDI]
16:33 That's your last test.
16:36 That's what the enemy measures you on.
16:41 You are a very skilled fighter.
16:45 But can you remain unflinching in the face of death?
16:50 That's what would be asked of you.
16:53 Similarly, in your spiritual pursuit,
16:56 you'd be asked, all right, you have a very dedicated ego.
17:00 It is prepared to give up everything.
17:03 Finally, is it prepared to give up itself?
17:07 And if it cannot give itself up, what
17:12 is the point in other austerities?
17:21 You are giving so much to the Lord,
17:27 you say you are submitted.
17:30 But you are constantly failing the last test.
17:33 And the last test is to give yourself up,
17:36 just as the last test for the physical warrior
17:39 is to lay down his life.
17:46 When in the physical battlefield,
17:49 don't hesitate to lay down your life.
17:55 And in the spiritual field, don't
17:57 hesitate to lay down your ego.
18:01 And both are one.
18:04 Both are one.
18:07 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life willingly
18:13 if his ego is not fully dedicated to a noble cause.
18:16 And the spiritual warrior cannot let his ego dissolve
18:26 if he's very mindful of the body.
18:29 The spiritual warrior must be prepared to give up the body.
18:35 The physical warrior must be egoless to give up the body.
18:38 Both are one.
18:43 The world is a battlefield.
18:44 We all are embattled.
18:45 A spiritual practice is to fight well.
18:46 And the spiritual warrior must be prepared to give up his ego.
18:48 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:49 And the spiritual warrior cannot let his ego dissolve.
18:51 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:52 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:53 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:54 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:55 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:56 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:57 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:58 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
18:59 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:00 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:01 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:02 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:03 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:04 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:05 The physical warrior cannot lay down his life.
19:30 Is the mind and there is Shubhankar as well, right?
19:43 The mind is designed to do something.
19:46 You have a choice in going along with the mind or not.
19:52 There is the mind and then there is you.
19:58 Do you find it necessary to comply?
20:03 You do.
20:04 But it's not necessary.
20:07 And therein lies hope.
20:17 You mentioned that the physical death and the spiritual death both are required.
20:23 But usually we nowadays see that there have been such instances where people are ready
20:27 for their physical death.
20:30 But that would not necessarily mean the spiritual death.
20:35 And somehow also we revert to the things what the Sikh gurus have done and the disciples.
20:41 But is it right to assume that it was all done with a spiritual?
20:46 The battle is essentially internal.
20:50 Remember that.
20:51 The battle is essentially internal.
20:55 Outside you only have its manifestations.
20:57 We said the manifestation could be in a laboratory, in a house, in a temple, in the street or
21:01 in a battlefield.
21:06 So whatever you are doing and wherever you are doing it, the real thing is internal and
21:12 therefore it has to be one internally only.
21:18 What is certain is that if the manifestation is external and you are afraid of losing physical
21:25 life, that surely means you are losing the battle.
21:30 However, it does not mean that in the external battle, if you are prepared to lay down your
21:36 life, you are necessarily winning the inner battle.
21:39 Please understand this.
21:42 A reluctance to lay down life is a sure shot indicator of the presence of an ignorant ego.
21:51 An eagerness to lay down life is not a sure shot indicator of a surrendered ego.
22:01 So don't get confused.
22:06 It has to be understood like this.
22:08 A real spiritual warrior would be prepared to lay down his life.
22:14 However, that does not mean that everybody who is prepared to lay down his life is a
22:19 spiritual warrior.
22:22 Is that clear?
22:27 Acharya ji, so when we talk of terrorism and terrorism is specifically talked in terms
22:49 of kind of religious war, so at the same time, even though they are prepared to lay down
22:59 their life, they say that they are warriors of God.
23:04 But at the same time, there is an ego inflating business going on.
23:10 It is a battle against ignorance.
23:13 We said the real battle is essentially internal and internally it is a battle against ignorance.
23:20 Another name for Maya is Agyan, ignorance.
23:28 On one hand is clarity.
23:30 The truth is Bodh Swaroop.
23:34 On one hand is clarity.
23:36 On the other hand is Agyan, avidya.
23:41 So in the battle you are against ignorance.
23:44 Whereas, if you are fighting propelled by ignorance, then obviously it is not a spiritual
23:54 battle.
23:57 If you are talking of many people who motivated by false ideals take to the battlefield, cause
24:13 the death of others and their own death, then you have to ask, are they motivated by light
24:24 or by ignorance?
24:26 What is their central inspiration?
24:32 Where are they coming from?
24:36 The spiritual warrior is fighting against ignorance.
24:41 He is not fighting as an ignorant one.
24:47 Whereas, these people that you are talking of, who cause bloodshed in the name of religion
24:52 etc., you have to ask, are they fighting as soldiers of clarity or are they fighting motivated
25:06 by just ignorance?
25:10 Do they really understand or are they just enthusiastic and energetic?
25:18 You have to go to one of those young people and check.
25:22 What is their real inspiration?
25:25 Is it clarity or is it some kind of hazy ideal?
25:40 If the inspiration is coming from lucidity, the great clear truth, then he is indeed a
25:48 spiritual warrior.
25:50 But if the motivation is coming from some random story or some hackneyed ideal, then
26:01 he is not a warrior against darkness, then he is a soldier of darkness.
26:14 He has no clarity.
26:16 Therefore, what is he fighting against?
26:19 He is fighting against light actually.
26:22 Check his clarity.
26:23 Check out whether he is clear about what he is doing.
26:26 He has passion, but does he have clarity?
26:29 That's the thing to check out.
26:31 Their passion is not sufficient.
26:33 God Bless.
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