Rise Above
On the first day of a new year, we open our eyes and take stock of our emotions and thoughts. Some people wake up feeling fresh, happy, blessed and grateful; others may feel lazy or sleepy, and there are some who wake up with the previous day’s burdens still on their minds because tensions and problems do not magically clear up on the morning of a new day.
This is the norm. Some people are happy and some are sad. Hazur Maharaj Charan Singh has said that if we were to study closely the life of any human being, we would not come across a single person who has all pleasure and no pain; nor would we meet anyone who has all pain and no pleasure. Hazur said that if we have ten days of pleasure, pain follows close behind. If we spend ten days in pain, we’re given breathing space that contains some pleasure.
As a result of this, we find ourselves permanently on an emotional roller coaster – speeding through highs and lows, twists and turns, happiness and sadness, as we go through life and its experiences. Time flies and the roller coaster never stops moving. Eventually, we get tired of constant emotional pressure.
Wouldn’t we prefer a life of peace, bliss and balance, as opposed to being affected by every little thing?
My mind, abandon this abode of pleasure and pain, rise above it and attach yourself to Satnam, the true Lord.
Soami Ji Maharaj, Sar Bachan Poetry
In this poem, Soami Ji Maharaj speaks to the mind, and encourages it to leave this world of pleasure and pain. He urges it to rise above the material level and attach itself to Satnam, the Father, the true Lord. In every verse, he appeals to the mind to turn away from the world and turn towards the Shabd.
There is a Tibetan saying that although it is uncertain when or how we will die, it is an absolute certainty that we will die. Soami Ji Maharaj emphasizes the same point in this poem. He reminds us that our body is fragile and our life span is short. The body will not accompany us when we die, nor will our relations and friends, our wealth and possessions, our honour and glory – these are all temporary and will be left behind.
Soami Ji Maharaj refers to our breath as a two-edged sword, because we must breathe to live, but every breath we take brings us one step closer to the end of our time in this body. He also compared our body to a punctured float (which is like an air-filled life boat) leaking day and night. If the air in the boat leaks out completely before we can reach the shore, the life boat will sink. Similarly, our human body inhales and exhales every second, but if before our last breath we have not succeeded in connecting with the Lord, then we will surely drown in this creation of pleasure and pain. Therefore, Soami Ji Maharaj urges the mind to give up its chase for worldly desires as we will never find peace in them.
He urges us to focus on the practice of Nam, the practice of our meditation. The Maharashtrian saint, Niloba, wrote:
When the heart lives for meditation, a peace sets in – a tranquillity.
Many Voices, One Song
As our practice of meditation matures, and as we experience through it a quiet mind, then we taste real rest and joy. We become less interested in running after external satisfactions and voluntarily go back to the restful and joyful place the mind has found within.
In this way, we will be able to get off the emotional roller coaster, and bring about stability, calm, peace and bliss into our lives. Soami Ji Maharaj’s message to us is to rise above pleasure and pain by remembering the five holy names of the Lord. These should be engraved in our hearts and our minds, so that the soul can be one with the Lord eternally.