Are You Drinking from Your Cup of Divine Nectar?

When you see the title of this article, you might ask yourself what divine nectar has to do with you. The phrase might remind you of ancient Greek stories, in which nectar was a magical drink that granted immortality to those who tasted it. But is divine nectar just a myth, or were those writers pointing to a deeper spiritual truth? If it is real, what is it? What happens if someone experiences it? Most importantly, could it already be available to you?

Mystics say that divine nectar is not a drink you can pour into a glass. Rather, it is the Lord’s creative power, known by various names such as Shabd, Nam, or Logos. This power is the force that created everything and sustains it. When someone connects with it through meditation, the experience is so profound that ancient writers compared it to tasting an elixir of immortality. But this idea is more than just a myth or a metaphor. Mystics explain that when the soul connects with Shabd, Shabd removes the ego, fills the soul with divine love, and ultimately frees it from the cycle of birth and death, thereby granting it immortality. Quoted in A Treasury of Mystic Terms, Vol. III, the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das writes:

Ambrosia (Amrit) is the true Name (Nām),
  but one can say not its praise.
No sooner does the man drink the Name Nectar
  than he becomes acceptable,
  and gets absorbed in the perfect Lord (Shabd, Word).

If Shabd is the divine nectar, then what serves as the cup? The saints explain that it is the chamber of the spiritual heart. Only as humans can our souls receive the grace to find this nectar and journey inward to our divine source. To drink from this cup, we need to recognize the extraordinary gift of human life, and to use it for the spiritual purpose for which it was granted: to clean the cup so it can be filled.

To understand why the human body is such a rare and precious vessel, we need only look around us. The natural world teems with a diversity of life that most of us, unless we study it professionally, scarcely notice. According to mystics, there are 8,400,000 different species on Earth, and since that number refers to categories rather than individual creatures and plants, the total number of living things is beyond calculation. Even the count of species is difficult to determine, as a single one can encompass many subspecies. Ants, for example, belong to the family Formicidae, which alone includes thousands of species.

Mystics teach that the Lord’s creative power, Shabd, exists in everything; not a single particle of creation is without it. This means that all living things, from the tiniest organism to the largest animal, possess a soul. However, among these countless forms of life, only the soul in a human body can consciously connect with Shabd and break free from the cycle of death and rebirth. Therefore, human birth is not only rare, but also spiritually unique. Mystics further teach that every soul must pass through all 8,400,000 species before gaining the opportunity to be born as a human. Seen in this light, human life is not just a biological event but a spiritual milestone of almost incomprehensible significance. In Spiritual Gems, Maharaj Sawan Singh states:

The only difference between man and lower creation is that man’s life here was meant for seeing the Lord and reaching the highest spiritual plane, in this life. Every minute of it is worth millions of dollars.

Mystics tell us that being human is a blessing when we use it to connect with the Lord, for it is only then we may drink from the cup of divine nectar. However, we waste minute after minute outwardly absorbed in the world’s distractions. Only when our focus is fully absorbed inwardly can our cup be filled. Until then, we miss out on its sweetness.

Quoted in A Treasury of Mystic Terms, Vol. III, the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev urges us:

The Nectar (Amrit) is the treasure of God’s Name (Nām).
  meet together and quaff it, O my brethren.
By remembering whom peace (sukh) is obtained,
  and all the thirst is slaked.

Guru Arjan Dev teaches that the nectar we seek is not distant or outside our reach. It is already within us, but to experience it, we must adhere to four lifelong principles. First, we eat a lacto-vegetarian diet, avoiding meat, fowl, fish and eggs. Second, we do not consume alcohol or take recreational drugs, as a calm and clear mind is essential for spiritual growth. Third, we strive to live morally, being honest and kind to others. These principles help us to discipline our thoughts and actions and form an essential foundation for the fourth: meditation. Practised daily under the guidance of a true living master, meditation purifies the mind. Following all these principles throughout our lives will steadily open our awareness to the Lord’s nectar that has always been within us.

Yet even with the path laid before us, saints warn that knowing the way is not the same as walking it. Quoted in A Treasury of Mystic Terms, Vol. III, the mystic poet Bhīkhā offers a sobering reminder of what is at stake:

The unstruck Sound (anhad Nād)
  is resounding in the sky (gagan),
  while your life is rapidly ebbing away.
Spending your time doing this and that,
  you remain in illusion, and never wake up.

Is divine nectar just a myth? The saints say it is real. It is Shabd, the Lord’s creative power, and it flows in everyone. We fail to recognize it because we stay caught up in the world’s illusions – so our inner vision remains murky. We can reach it only through the meditation practice as taught by a living master at initiation. Quoted in A Treasury of Mystic Terms, Vol. III, Sant Dādū reminds us:

Those who took the poison, died;
Those who drank the Draught of Immortality (Amrit)
  became immortal.

The cup is the chamber of our spiritual heart, located at tisra til, the eye centre. The nectar is already flowing within us, and the Master has shown us the way to receive it. It is up to us to do our practice – to purify our hearts through the principles he has given us – so that, with his grace, our cup may at last be filled with that divine nectar and our thirst satiated forever.