5 Downfall of the soul and how it can return home
Our soul is, in essence, a drop from the great ocean of Sat Nam – the true, eternal, inconceivable Lord, without beginning and without end, the creator of all. He is the source of all bliss, energy and life.
After departing from their source, Sat Nam, the souls of the entire universe descended first into the domain of the mind. Then they were confined in the prison house of the world through the bondage of their desires. They lost awareness of their parent, Sat Nam, and forgot their divine origin. Whatever actions the soul performed at the bidding of the mind involved it more and more in the worldly dross. It became tied down here, to the earth plane, and its desires and cravings became its fetters. The further it strayed from its home, the darker and dirtier coverings it acquired.
The soul was then submerged in duality, which resulted in its encasement in a thick, hard shell of egotism. So its light became clouded by mental aberrations and desires. Treading the path of mind, it strayed further away from the path of Nam till, at last, all its light and glory got totally masked. It even forgot that it was soul – immortal and everlasting – and began to identify itself with its various coverings, with which it had enveloped itself during its descent.
It began to call itself body. First, it took on the causal body after descending to the causal region. When it came down to the astral region, which is the world of potent illusion, it was covered with the astral body. And when it dropped down to the phenomenal world, it was covered with the physical body, in addition to all the previous coverings. The lower the soul sank, the dimmer grew its light.
Consequently, whatever we do in this world, our actions are like those of a blind man groping in the dark. The darkness and ignorance result in confused thinking which, in its turn, brings sorrow and suffering. The mind is weak and erring, and is the victim of the senses. As the soul is practically tied into a knot with the mind, it has also to undergo the sufferings of the latter.
You will find no dearth of misery and suffering in this world. Ask anybody, whether rich or poor, prince or pauper, man, woman or child, young or old, and you will find that no one is happy. Guru Nanak says:
Unhappy is all the world, O Nanak.1
Sahjo Bai says:
The rich, without exception,
are distressed and distraught.
And the poor, what to say of their lot?
Their misery and sorrow know no bounds.
Blessed are sadhus who the great secret
have found.2
Soami Ji describes the misery of humanity, from infancy to adulthood, in the following words:
As a baby, immense pain he suffers;
Neither makes he a sign, nor a word utters.
He cannot tell what ails him.
In pain, he weeps and cries,
But parents are at loss to understand the cause.He suffers from one disease,
But is treated for another.
This adds more to his trouble;
Thus babyhood passes in great distress.Then he enters boyhood.
Parents want to send him to school,
But he has a burning desire for play and games.
Gets daily thrashed, nobody saves him.
What a pity! What great pains!
These days also passed in vain.Now cometh youth, the age of folly.
Lust and passions awake in mind.
Desire driven, he runs after woman,
Marries and brings home his bride.
Her company he enjoys,
Knowing not that he is chained.
He forgets altogether parents’ rights;
Day and night he dallies with wife.
When children appear,
Love for parents doth disappear.Next worries for livelihood come.
He runs from door to door;
Like a dog he gets rebuffs.
From morning till evening,
Of nothing else he thinks.Money is his prayer and money is his king.
Wants and worries do increase,
Make hell of life and bring disease.
Maintaining position and pride of caste,
All these burdens he takes to heart.
What a fool, to load his head with grief.He gets perplexed and runs in search of peace,
But instead he gets sorrow and pain.
Regrets his folly, but to no avail;
Misery and distress come like rain.3
Such is human life, which is regarded as the top of all creation. Even worse is the condition of the lower species. Every day thousands of fowl, sheep, goats, cattle and other animals are killed to provide food for man. Piteous are their agonizing cries, yet we heed them not. Never have we thought for a moment how we would feel if we were in their place, waiting to be butchered. A slight prick of a doctor’s needle is enough to frighten us and to make us shiver, even though it is for our benefit. How oblivious are we of the pain we cause to animals when we go hunting! How the birds flutter and scream when they are shot! How the wounded animals suffer torture and slow death! How the poor fish writhes and wriggles in trying to save its life when it is caught on the angler’s hook and is pulled out of water! Witness the fate of mules and horses. The vehicles pulled by them are frequently loaded much above capacity. They are made to run despite the bad and uneven roads. Lashes fall on them mercilessly even though they have sore necks and backs. When they grow old and are unable to do work, they have either to fend for themselves or suffer the butcher’s knife. To whom can they complain?
You will find that, in all the bodies and in all the species, the soul has indeed a hard lot to face. Misery and pain surround it wherever it goes. To what a sad plight the association with the mind and senses has brought it! A princess of royal blood, who would normally marry a ruling prince and rule as a queen, has completely forgotten her high origin and has run away with a lowly slave who makes her do menial work. Possessing her and getting work done, however, does not satisfy him and he continually runs after others (in the garb of senses).
The above aptly illustrates the position of the soul. This royal princess has fallen into the hands of the mind, which has brought nothing but misery and pain to her. The mind itself is not free. It runs after the pleasures of the senses and has become a slave to lust, anger, greed, attachment and pride. The mind and the soul have become so tightly knotted together that the soul has to suffer the consequences of the mind’s actions. It keeps moving from one species to another, each one worse than the former. The only exit from this prison is the human form, of which it did not avail itself. The purpose of the Supreme Being in blessing the soul with the most valuable gift of a human body is to afford it an opportunity of release from this vast prison house by devotion to God. But this poor wretch utterly failed to take advantage of the golden opportunity. Instead, the mind resorted to eating, drinking and gratifying lust, greed, etc. This reminds us of a popular adage: “Sweet is this world, who has seen the next?”
Nature is not extravagant. If the soul does not make proper use of its vehicle, it is consigned to the place where it can satisfy its desires and cravings. The result is that the soul descends lower and lower till ultimately it sinks to the lowest hell. Man stands at the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder. By carrying out the instructions of a perfect Master, he can gain the rooftop – his real home in Sat Lok. He follows, however, the dictates of his mind and senses, and suffers the consequences thereof by falling down in the scale of evolution. It may take him countless ages to be born again in the human form.
This continuous chain of action and reaction would never have come to an end, had not the supreme Lord taken great pity on us in our extreme distress and misfortune. Seeing the soul, His beloved child, in such a sad plight, that ocean of mercy and compassion surged in swelling tides and, assuming the human form, came to the world to save us.
Soami Ji says:
The Lord assumed the human form,
Came into the world in Master’s garb
To awaken the souls from deep sleep.4
When an erring child is arrested by the police and sent to jail for crimes, it is the father who runs about, files an appeal and follows the case up to the highest court. However angry he may be over the evil doings of his child, he does not forsake him in time of need. When such is the case with a father who has nothing but physical attachment to move his heart, would not the almighty Father who is the unfathomable ocean of mercy, grace and compassion take pity on us and come to our rescue? All the saints say: “He will and does come.”
Kabir Sahib has said:
Father, merciful and kind, forgive my faults;
Though unworthy, still thy son am I
And dependent on Thee! O Father.5
Shams-i Tabriz says:
That great Lord has hid Himself behind heavy palls;
Then concealed in the cloak of man,
Cometh He to (open) the door.6
Further he says:
Sit silently in a quiet corner
And listen to the five notes
That constantly arise from within thee.O, hush thee and listen thou
To the five melodies coming from heaven.7
Bulleh Shah says:
God cometh in the form of man,
And cometh He to awaken the world.8
Guru Arjun Dev says:
Hari* has assumed the name of Ram Das*.9
God has to assume the human form for our sake, because only a human being can teach a human being. Gods and angels we cannot see; animals and beasts are without understanding or the faculty of speech. Only a human being can make a human being understand. Krishna, Kabir, Christ, Mohammed, Guru Nanak, Soami Ji and all the saints and sages, rishis and munis that visited the earth came in the human form. When the great Lord wishes to impart gyan (knowledge about Himself) to us, He always comes in the human form. Had He come in any other form, we would not have understood His language. Moreover, there is natural attachment and attraction towards one of the same species. Had not the great Lord come Himself and apprised us, we would never have known anything about Him. Out of compassion, grace and mercy does He take the human form and come down to this world as a teacher or Guru. He is not confined to any particular race, religion or country. All races and countries are His.
Saints, who are men of God and whom we call Gurus, teachers or Masters, are above caste, colour and creed. They have nothing to do with the worldly ceremonies, symbols, forms, rites, rituals or religions. They belong to all religions, and all religions are theirs. They simply say:
Friends! This world, full of misery and pain, is not thy true home. Thou belongest to the land of everlasting peace and bliss, where there is no grief, disease or death. These religions are not thy religions, nor are these castes thy castes. Thy religion is love. Thy caste is Sat Nam. Thy country is Sat Lok or Sach Khand. Thou art the child of the Father, the true, eternal, unborn, deathless; without beginning and without end. Thou hast fallen into the hands of mind and Maya, who have kept thee confined to the wheel of births and deaths. Human form is the only exit through which thou canst find escape.
Kabir says:
O swan (soul)! Proceed thou to Sach Khand
And quit thou this foreign land
(where there is no peace).10
Soami Ji says:
Return thou to thy own true home;
Stay not in a foreign land.
Do thine own work,
Engage not in others’.
Devote thyself to the practice of Nam,
Which alone shall in good stead stand thee.11
All the saints have expressed similar sentiments. Maulana Rum says:
This world is a prison
And we are all prisoners in it.
Break through the roof of thy cell
And release thyself.12
Our soul is maha chetan (superconscious energy), a drop from the ocean of spirituality, life and energy. It is pure spirit. Yet in its association with mind and matter it has gathered all the dross which is the cause of recurring woe and misery.
The soul is in search of peace and happiness. It tries to find it sometimes in one thing and sometimes in another. But where can it find peace in this phenomenal world, where none is happy? Everyone has his own tale of woe to narrate. One has a spouse and the other none, but both suffer all the same. One has no children and the other too many. One is worried about realization of a loan, the other about his inability to pay. One bemoans the loss of a child and the other his child’s misdoings. Poverty, disease, and suffering stalk the land. Rich and poor, king and beggar, young and old – all are restless. The world is literally a Pandora’s box – a home of misfortune. True happiness does not exist anywhere. Neither wealth nor pelf can buy it. Mr Rockefeller, the world’s richest man of the time, once remarked on seeing a labourer carrying a heavy load, “Take all my wealth and give me the health of that man.” Even when one is seemingly happy, one carries a heavy load of cares on one’s head. The moments of joy are fleeting and soon pass away, only to be followed by bitter grief and dismay.
Guru Nanak says:
Too much enjoyment resulteth in pain,
Indulgence in normal pleasures
Endeth in disease and dejection.
Pleasure removeth not pain,
And in delusion doth man come and go.13
The pleasure which ends in pain is not real pleasure. Wise men always keep the end in view. In short, the saints say that this is not our true home. It has nothing to offer but pain and sorrow. Quit this place as soon as possible and reach your true home in Sat Lok without delay. Take heed! This work can be accomplished only in the human form. Therefore take full advantage of this opportunity, for it is the greatest good fortune to be born as a human being after long and tortuous wanderings in other lives. You have a short span of life and this too is running out fast. Unless you wake up now, it will be futile to cry over spilt milk later.
Guru Arjun Dev says:
Having reached the top of the evolutionary ladder, you should now contact Nam and tread the spiritual path to your divine home. If you fail to do so and slide down, you will have to sojourn in this world of change and go through the various forms of creation.14
Kabir Sahib says:
Human body is hard to obtain;
One doth not get it again and again.
When a ripe fruit once falleth from a tree,
Never again doth it return to the branch.15
Soami Ji says:
This valuable body you got
After roaming in millions of lower lives;
Now do not lose it in vain pursuits.
Take heed! Give your attention to devotion.
Have pity on your poor soul
And save it from transmigration’s wheel.
These pleasures and comforts are for four days;
After that a long period of sorrow awaits you.
Beware! Save yourself from hellfire;
Do not make your soul its fuel.16
Saints loudly and repeatedly enjoin:
Turn away from the path of sensual pleasures. God is within your body. Seek the true Master and learn from him the way to go in. Raise your consciousness above the nine portals and attach yourself to Nam, the heavenly Sound, the Voice of the Lord that is resounding behind your eyes. Concentrate your attention on the akash (sky) within, and go up from there to higher regions.
We have been turned out of this mansion and an iron gate has been shut against us. This can be opened only with the help of a perfect Guru. It is impossible to undertake the journey inside without a perfect guide – one who knows all the ins and outs and ups and downs of the dark passage. At every step, there are obstacles and hindrances which make it difficult and dangerous for the practitioner to proceed alone.
Maulana Rum says:
Find thou a mystic guide,
For beset with dangers is this journey.
Whosoever without the Master ventureth on the path,
The evil ones lead him astray,
And cast him into the well (of misery).If over thy head the protecting hand
Of thy Guru thou hast not got,
Devilish doubts shall ever keep thee
Perplexed and puzzled.
Many, wiser than thyself, tried to go
On this path
But Satan led all of them astray.17
When good luck brings you in contact with a true Master, offer all your love to him. Give up attachment to the world and the worldly objects, and discard the path of mind and senses. Take the Master with you and enter inside. He will attach you to Shabd. Identify yourself with it and become one with it. By and by, you will be able to withdraw your consciousness, first up to the ankles and wrists, then to the knees and elbows, thence up to the shoulders, and so on. Do not lose heart, but be patient. In due course, you will be able to concentrate your attention at the eye centre. Enter within and give up all thoughts of the external world. You will achieve everything.
First comes the jyoti – the celestial flame – out of which emanates a divine melody. Concentrate your attention on the flame and, focusing your subtle mind on the vision, penetrate it. Continue this practice every day, giving up love for the world and increasing it for Nam. Desire for Nam grows only by virtue of constant contact with the Master within. The company of worldly men again pulls us down to the level of the senses. Hence satsang – Guru’s company – is most essential. Our love for the Guru enables us to give up the path of the mind and turn within.
When the seeker follows the instructions of the Guru, beholds the vision of the celestial flame, listens to the divine Music and merges himself in the Word, he goes beyond the sphere of mind and matter. Then by constant practice of Nam, he gets true liberation and ascends to the abode of the supreme Father.
This is not a small attainment. Whatever may be the trials and tribulations, put up with them willingly, for it is a sure sign that the soul is on its way up. You have found the path to the region of immortality, the land of truth, and placed your feet on the ladder of Nam. Climb up and come to the realm of the Master. On the way, you will cross the region of Sunn (void), the region of Maha Sunn (great void), then the region of ‘I-less-ness’, where the soul recognizes its identity with Nam, and ultimately merges in Sat Nam – the Lord Supreme – by faithfully following the directions of the Master. This, however, happens only when the supreme Lord, in His great mercy, awakens in us love for Himself because of which we begin our search and meet an adept who is in touch with Him, get the secret of Nam and carry out daily the prescribed course (exercises) under his inspiring guidance. Once we get attached to Nam we have nothing to worry about, for He watches over us as does a mother over her infant babe. Such opportunities do not come every day. Fortunate, indeed, are we to be incarnated in a human body. We should therefore get in touch with someone acquainted with Nam and, on learning the technique from him, contact Nam.
When the Lord, in His mercy and grace, wants to take us unto Himself, He does so by imparting the secret of Nam, the Word, through a Master. We develop spiritually in the lap of the Master within, and the Word protects us.
Make thou friend with gurmukh
And be devoted to Satguru.
Thus cut asunder the chain of birth and death;
Then shalt thou attain eternal bliss.
Adi Granth
To recapitulate:
- Soul, essence of the Supreme Being, has lost its way to its true home.
- During its descent from the purely spiritual realm to the physical one, it got three coverings, the causal, astral and physical bodies, and completely forgot its royal origin.
- In association with the mind and the senses, it chained itself firmly to the wheel of birth and death and thus suffered untold misery and privations in different lives and species.
- It did not avail itself of the human form given by the Creator to effect its release. It was dissipated in sensuous pursuits.
- The merciful Lord, seeing its miserable plight, came into Master’s garb to awaken it from deep slumber.
- The need is to come in contact with such a Master, learn the technique from him, carry out spiritual practices with ceaseless persistence and unshakeable faith, and thus return home and merge into the ocean of which the soul is a drop.
- This, however, happens only when He so wills it.