When a devotee is engrossed in the Divine Love within, he perceives the Divine pervading everywhere, writes BABA IQBAL SINGH
When the seeker after Truth perceives his separation from the divine Reality within, he becomes sad and full of remorse .He develops an intense urge to meet the Divine, a state known as Vairaag. He longs to meet his Divine Master and in a state of profound love, weeps and sheds tears, begging his Divine Master to have pity on him and take him into His divine-fold, so that he could get the divine pleasure. This state of mind of the Seeker has been picturised by Guru Ramdas in the following Hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib: O My Beloved Divine Lord! I cannot remain in equipoise without realising Your presence in my heart. Out of the intense love to realise You in my heart, I cannot control my tears which further intensify my urge to have Your glimpse as early as possible. (94)
Shedding these tears to express his longing for meeting Him within, the seeker washes away many sins of his past and present lives. According to Gurbani, the state of Birha is like the acquisition of a rich divine Kingdom, in which one can conduct an intensive divine search within and ultimately realise the Divine. But what about the one who does not yearn to meet the True One? His body is like a crematorium, because the fire of lust, anger, greed, etc., is burning the virtues in his heart to realise the Divine within. The Muslim saint Farid explains this condition of Birha in a Hymn, incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib: Many people yearn, crave and weep, for having a glimpse of the Divine Within, which becomes their divine urge to realise the Supreme Beloved within. The body, which is devoid of the utmost yearning to realise the Beloved Divine, should be considered the cremation ground where all the human virtues to meet the Divine are burnt to ashes.(1397)
When Vivek, the intense love for the Divine turns into a burning desire to meet Him, then the divine virtues spring up in his mind to realise the Divine. In this state, the Seeker forgets all the worldly illusions and reaches the stage where he can differentiate between virtues and vices, as well as the real and the unreal. Clearing all his doubts, he starts treading the divine Path steadfastly
Guru Amardas, the third Divine Master, clarifies it in the following Hymn: With the divine Wisdom, the Seeker controls the uncontrollable mind and the Guru blesses him to meet the Divine. (1276)
Buddhi, the state of enlightenment, can be attained by passing various stages as enunciated by Guru Ramdas in the following hymn: If one overpowers his mind ,he attains the stage of Siddhi, (full of occult powers).If he further cultivates the Divine Wisdom by meditating on the Divine Name, he will attain the divine Wisdom (Buddhi). If he perceives the divine love and immerses his mind in it, he rids himself of all confusions and doubts, which are the hurdles to realise the Divine within and attains the stage of divine Realm.(607)
With the blessings of the Divine Lord, one must endeavour to control the five vices — lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride — which are uncontrollable by the mind engrossed in worldly pleasures. If a person has an immense spiritual urge for treading the divine path and fully controls the five vices, he attains the stage of Siddhi, accumulation of occult powers. But if he does not perform these occult powers due to his intense desire to meet the Divine within, by reciting the Divine Name continuously with full love and devotion, he enters the stage of perceiving the Divine Wisdom. If the same person is further engrossed in the divine love within, he perceives the Divine pervading everywhere ie to see One in all and all in One.
Treading the spiritual path, the Seeker faces many obstacles. He gains super-natural powers and can work miracles. But the use of such miraculous powers not only hinder his progress for realisation of the Divine, but lead to his downfall from that spiritual state. However, if he preserves his spiritual powers, with the urge to meet the Divine within, he becomes stronger with this inspiration and starts reciting the Divine Name with full love and devotion. He successfully enters the state of the divine Wisdom. If he further goes on reciting the Divine Name with full love and devotion, he sheds all the illusions of worldly attractions. Then with full zeal and devotion, he goes ahead to enter the divine Realm, i.e., Formless One. Abridged from Sikh Faith, The Kalgidhar Trust.
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