Day 23: Here comes the storm of spiritual wisdom

By Surinder Kaur Sohan Singh | SIKHI STUDY | OPINION

ਦੇਖੌ ਭਾਈ ਗ੍ਯ੍ਯਾਨ ਕੀ ਆਈ ਆਂਧੀ ॥

Dhaekho bhaee Giaan kee aaee aandhee. (SGGS 331)

Aandhee means storm. Giaan refers to spiritual knowledge.

Meaning: Behold O brethren, the storm of spiritual wisdom has come into my life.

Kehi Kabir man bha-i-aa pargaasa udhai bhaan jab cheena (SGGS 332)

ਕਹਿ ਕਬੀਰ ਮਨਿ ਭਇਆ ਪ੍ਰਗਾਸਾ ਉਦੈ ਭਾਨੁ ਜਬ ਚੀਨਾ ॥੨॥੪੩॥

Meaning: This storm has taken away the ignorance of my mind. The sun of knowledge has replaced this darkness and now I am enlightened and for the first time I have experienced BLISS in my life.

In this SHABAD, Kabirji is sharing his experience of going from darkness of ignorance to light and bliss in His mind.

He says there was a time that his mind was surrounded by the darkness of ignorance. This was because he had built a hut for himself with the foundation of wrong thought processes and actions (Bharam).

The roof of this hut was built of thrisna (desires). The beam was built of attachment. The pillars for this hut were of duality. The space inside had a pitcher filled with evil wisdom.

His life was miserable living in this hut that had all the following: Bharam, Thrisna, Double mindedness, Attachments, Vices.

Then one day he experienced a great storm in his life. This storm was of the right knowledge / wisdom. This storm completely destroyed the whole hut that he had built.

Sabhai udaanee bharam kee taatee rehai na Maaiaa baandee.

Bharam is something that we believe to be true/ right but actually it is not. Meaning: The storm of knowledge has blown away all my wrong thought processes.

Duchitay kee duay thoon giraaee Moh balayda toota.

Duchitay means double mindedness The pillars holding the roof was my double mindedness. The pillars collapsed and this caused the beam of attachments to break.

Thrisna chaan paree dhar oopar durmatt bhanda foota.

Thrisna is never ending desires. As a result of the beams collapsing, the roof of desires fell flat down on the earth and with it the pitcher of evil wisdom broke.

Aandhee paachay jo jal barkhai tihi taera jan bheena.

Jal refers to rain that comes after the storm. Meaning: The rain that followed after the storm has drenched me completely and left me with a feeling of bliss.

Each one of us have also built a hut similar to Kabir ji ‘s hut which creates a block in our efforts to experience peace and bliss.

We have the Bharam that whatever we are doing in the name of religion is right although Gurbani doesn’t agree with it. Here are some examples:

• Guruji’s Bani is telling us that Nature is already performing a beautiful aarti for the Lord. We do not need to pluck those beautiful flowers to give to the Lord. But we choose not to listen.
• Guruji says it is not possible to clean the mind by bathing at the Theerath. We choose to ignore it.
• We visit these places every year to clean ourselves.
• Guruji says we do not need a middleman to communicate with GOD. We need to  read the Bani ourselves. We ignore that. Instead of doing that we pay others to read it for us.
• Guruji says our mind is dirty. Give it to the Guru to clean. We do not want to part with it. We keep on giving other things to please GOD but we are not willing to give up our wrong thought processes.
• Guruji says don’t waste the milk by using it to wash the floor of the Gurdwaras. Give it to the poor people to drink it. We think it gives extra merit points to wash the floor with milk.
• Attachments: Guruji says give up your vices. We hold on tight to our vices.

We have very strong attachments to our vices. This is the attachment that we need to give up. Guruji is not telling us to stop loving our families. Sikhi encourages family life. It is against abandoning the family and going of into the jungle. What Guruji wants us to abandon is the love and attachments to our vices. But these are the things that we are not willing to give up.

We are doing everything according to our own understanding. This understanding is wrong (Durmatt/ Kumatt).

Kabirji has worked on his Durmatt by understanding the true message of his Guru and changing his thinking patterns. This has resulted in bliss for him.

He is advising us to do the same if we desire happiness and bliss in our lives.

Surinder Kaur Sohan Singh is a Malaysia-based Gurbani enthusiast. This is an edited version of her regular articles shared within a circle of fellow Sikhi seekers. The articles appear on Mondays and Thursdays.

* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.

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