Gobind Milan Ki Eh Teri Bariya

In my previous post I spoke about the importance of Naam and what we can do in our capacity in order to achieve that which we have always wanted (Naam Sukh). That brings us to the next topic which is related ...Our purpose in life!

So why are we here? On this earth. Running around our daily affairs. Getting up in the morning, getting ready, going to work, arguing and laughing at the same time with our bosses, customers, colleagues, wife, family. Coming back, taking care of kids, doing chores around the house, taking care of the house, running on the weekend to the grocery store, to parties/movies/clubs, to Gurudwara/Temple/Church, eating, sleeping and everything in the whole 24/7/365 routine. So is it that we are born by accident (feel like making a funny comment here, but I will hold it for now) or is that we came here for a purpose?
I wont go deep into the whole accident phenomena of it is a whole other philosophical discussion, but would stick to the idea laid down in Gurbani, that we do have a purpose in life. So what is that purpose? Lets take look at what Guru Arjan Dev, the 5th Nanak has to say:

bha-ee paraapat maanukh dayhuree-aa
This human body has been given to you.
gobind milan kee ih tayree baree-aa.
This is your chance to meet the Lord of the Universe
avar kaaj tayrai kitai na kaam
Nothing else will work
mil saaDhsangat bhaj kayval naam
Join the Saadh Sangat, the Company of the Holy; vibrate and meditate on the Jewel of the Naam
saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai
Make every effort to cross over this terrifying world-ocean
janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai
You are squandering this life uselessly in the love of Maya

Now there is a lot of masala (I say it more so with love towards the Bani, so lets not focus on its inappropriateness if you feel so) in the above verse and its very important to understand it correctly as this verse itself defines the purpose of our lives.

Guru Sahiban says that we have received this human body after a lot of hardships. We really had to work our way up , spiritually speaking, in order to attain this human birth:

ka-ee janam bha-ay keet patangaa.
In so many incarnations, you were a worm and an insect
ka-ee janam gaj meen kurangaa.
in so many incarnations, you were an elephant, a fish and a deer.
ka-ee janam pankhee sarap ho-i-o.
In so many incarnations, you were a bird and a snake.
ka-ee janam haivar barikh jo-i-o.
In so many incarnations, you were yoked as an ox and a horse. ||1||
mil jagdees milan kee baree-aa.
Meet the Lord of the Universe - now is the time to meet Him.
chirankaal ih dayh sanjaree-aa.
After so very long, this human body was fashioned for you.

So now that we have been given this human body, what should we do with it? Guru says use it to meet The Primal Being (whatever name you call it with). Gobind milan ki eh teri bariya. This is your time to meet God. Its not possible in any other form. Human birth is the only time where we have the wisdom to understand God and how He manifests in all forms of Beings.

Whatever else we do (without the above basic purpose in mind) would be of no use. So although doing our daily duties is important, its not the ultimate purpose we are here for. Remember Guru Sahib have never asked us to renounce our worldly duties. Instead they have taught us the phenomena of "Jeh Prasad" (Sukhmani Sahib). Jeh Prasad means that we acknowledge and thank the Creator for all that He has given us and enjoy the bounties of life with this feeling of thankfulness. The idea is to remember and see the Creator in everything/everyone and not be attached to the Creation.

So what are we supposed to do in order to achieve the ultimate purpose? Guruji says..."Mil sadh sangat bhaj keval Naam". This does not mean that we sit in Sangat the whole day, it means that whatever we do, we do it with constant remembrance and awareness and dedicate it to the Lord. Again, keep in mind the concept of Jeh Prasad. It also means that we need do amrit vela (will talk about it another post), do shabad vichaar (contemplation and leading a life of God's word). From the shabad vichaar we learn that we should lead a life of love for all and service to humanity (sounds pretty idealistic but dont seem to have much of a choice here. Will cover this aspect in a later post). This is also the saraNjaam laag bhavjal taran kai. Meaning this is also the effort that we have to put in, in order to obtain Naam. We will have to take out time and money to help others, to raise a family (with love and not with moh), to show small acts of love without expecting anything in return, to help those in need . This is the effort we need to put in.

When we do all this we wont be wasting our life just enjoying the fruits of it (janam baritha jaat rang maa-i-aa kai).

At this juncture after writing all this, a strong realization dawns upon me that I have wasted quite some time now. Gotta do some shabad vichaar and some mindless act of kindness right now...Bye for now.