By: Mahant Jay Jaggessur, June 27th, 2018 - Kabir Jayanti
2018 marks the 620th anniversary of the appearance of Satguru Kabir Saheb. In commemorating this anniversary, let us reflect on the most essential message He brought to us.
There is a constant conflict that goes on within an individual: what he desires and what he does to fulfill his desires. This conflict plays out quite a bit in peoples’ minds as they struggle to do what they know is best for them to do. The reason why it is a conflict is because oftentimes, people cannot pursue the action which they know is right, although sometimes there also is a challenge to discriminate between what is and is not right to do. The battle here is between Truth and Falsity.
Satguru Kabir Saheb propounded the doctrine of Truth as being God. He said that whatever is not true cannot be God. In this way, our existence as human beings is questioned. What is true about our existence? Satguru Kabir Saheb advanced that only that which will not perish can be true. Anything else, which is subject to change, to decay, to transformation cannot be true because they are true only for some time and then change. The soul, which is the only aspect of our existence which is eternal, therefore true, is what we have to take care of. He advanced the doctrine of monism or non-dualism, which essentially states that God is not separate from us. Therefore that aspect which is true within us is God. He said:
“Saanch Huwaa To Kyaa Huwaa, Naam Na Saanchaa Jaan;
Saanchaa Hoy Saanche Mile, Saanche Maahin Samaan.”
(see transliteration and pronunciation guide here)
In other words if you have not known or realised the True Name what is the whole purpose of that truth? The value of that Truth is when you actually become the Truth yourself so that you merge with God. This is the process of self-realisation. Unless we know the absolute truth, we cannot realise God. If we are mistaken about our interpretation of Truth, we will not attain our spiritual goal. People easily get confused and perceive truth to be that which is not true. And this is because of the illusive power of Maya. Satguru Kabir Saheb taught us to apply our discriminative faculties.
In the following saakhee, Satguru kabir Saheb illustrates how people, although they know what is right and what is wrong, need to be taught the obvious because they still embark on the wrong path.
“Saanche Koee Na Pataaiye, Jhoothe Jag Patiyaaye;
Gali Gali Goras Phire, Madiraa Baith Bikaaye.”
(see transliteration and pronunciation guide here)
Although people know that milk is good for their health, they still crave for wine. The milk seller has to go around to look for customers to sell his milk, while the wine seller sits in his shop and people rush to buy wine. The difference lies in what people make of what they know. The difference lies in their perception, and perceptions can be misleading while there can only be one truth. The following story illustrates how similar circumstances can lead to different results when perceived differently by different people.
There were two brothers who had a very rough childhood. Their parents were very poor and could hardly feed them. They had to go through lots of hardships on a daily basis. It so happened that when the brothers were around 10 years of age, their parents passed away and they had to fend for themselves. In their struggle for survival, they got separated. One of them resorted to stealing to sustain himself, while the other one worked very hard and studied to become an engineer. Later in life, they were both successful: one was an experienced thief, and the other one was a successful engineer. Each one was asked how they became who they were. The thief answered that with the rough childhood that he went through, and all the miseries that life threw at him, how could he be anyone else than a thief? How could he not snatch from life what life deprived him of? And to answer the same question, the engineer replied that with the kind of childhood he had, with all the hardships he went through, how could he not resolve to take the challenge and prove that he deserved better? How could his childhood not serve him a lesson to reverse the miserable conditions he went through into a happy life?
This story illustrates how the same ‘truth’ can be perceived differently and lead to totally opposite results. Satguru Kabir Saheb wanted mankind to realise his true identity; He wanted people to know their potential, and fulfill the true purpose of their human birth.
