Talk by Dr. Harbhajan Singh in Kirpal Sagar on 7 November 1991
Video “Gurmukh — The mouthpiece of God” by Dr Harbhajan Singh (14:45)
Dear brothers and sisters,
In today’s Satsang Master has spoken about the mouthpiece of God and the mouthpiece of mind — manmukh and Gurmukh. He has explained lots of virtues, which the mouthpiece of God possesses, due to the grace of the Master.
He gets everything from the Master and surrenders it back to the Master. You get something from your Father and you put it back to the Father. This is very beautiful because the mouthpiece of God depends entirely upon his Father. He (always carefully) thinks, that not anything may happen during his lifespan; he is very much afraid of each and everything which he has to perform in the world. He thinks twice, maybe more, before he does anything. His purpose is to do all entirely in the interest of his Father, in the interest of his soul.
As for example, if per chance he didn’t obey what his Master said, he repents it for his whole life. He remembers it, “Oh I could not (obey). I did this at that time!” Master, however, says, “Forgive and forget!” He forgives and He further finds a way to overcome such a problem.
But a mouthpiece of God is like a shady tree, which gives cool and comfort to the travellers during the summer weather and also gives the fruit to the weary and the tired. That is its purpose.
When Masters come in the world, they bless the humanity with thoughts, words, and actions. They put their full attention to develop others. And they also take upon their shoulders the burden of other people, because they know that they cannot carry this burden. If this burden continues, he will not come to the senses and he will never be enlightened. What does the Master do on the very first day (at the initiation)? He burns all our previous karmas and He shows us the way back to God; this is a wonderful job He does.
At the time of Baba Sawan Singh there used to be one practice: In the open Satsang people used to stand and say, “Well Master, I have committed this thing. Master forgive me!” And Baba Sawan Singh used to say, “Is there anybody who can bear the burden of this problem he committed?” Nobody would stand up. We can not even bear the problems which we created ourselves — how can we bear the problems for other people? What did Baba Sawan Singh say then? “OK, don’t do it later on, don’t do it in future!”
That is also what used to be with Christ. Once a prostitute came there and people said that she had committed this problem (adultery). Christ asked, “What punishment would you recommend according to your religious books?” They answered, “She should be stoned to death.” — “Well, only that person should throw a stone who has not committed any sin!”
It is said that, when Christ went somewhere in the public, he also forgave one prostitute. Because, when she saw Christ, she started to tremble. Why? Due to lots of sins in her. And she got hold of the holy feet of the Christ and started weeping. Christ picked her up and held her. Simon (in whose house he was received as guest) thought, “What a Christ Power he is? He is embracing a prostitute?” Christ said, “Well, Simon, you have given me everything, it is well and good. You have given me food, you have welcomed me in your house, but you have not washed my feet with tears. So I forgive her.” He told (her), “Don’t do it in future!”
This possibility (to forgive sins) is only with the Master Power, I tell you. If we have surrendered to Him, automatically He will forgive everything. And once He forgives, then He does not take it into account again. And then, what more does He do? He draws a line and says, “OK, now don’t do this again in future. Your way is clear.” This is a grace which comes direct from the Master Power. Be cause His purpose is very unique in the world. His words are charged. Whatever He speaks, He speaks from His Master, from the God Power, from the Power which is working in Him. He does not speak at the level of intellect.
You know, once there was a saint and this saint used to call “Hari bole.” It was a way of mentioning the God Power. He went to a washerman’s place, a public place where washermen used to wash their clothes. He said, “Hari bole”, which means, “Speak of God!” So those people thought that he was a beggar and he wanted some money from them. But he didn’t stop saying, “Please, Hari bole!” He started again and again. There was one wise person, who said, “If we want to get rid of this person, we simply have to speak ‘Hari bole’.” But there was a radiation in his words, they were charged words, and the one who spoke them, he started to dance. So when he started to dance, he also loudly spoke “Hari bole, Hari bole”. Then the other persons got this infection and also started with it and in a few seconds the whole surrounding started to say, “Hari bole”, and they started to dance there.
So this is something that we can only get from an awakened person, from the mouthpiece of God or from a Saint. Because what is their purpose?
They only serve the God Power, they only serve the humanity, they come to bless the children. Their purpose is unique and carries all the time positive thoughts. Thus they serve the humanity with thoughts, deeds, and actions, and they do not keep any thing with them, not even medicine. You know, once Master was sick. I said, “Master, You prescribe lots of medicines to others, but You Your self can not prescribe medicine to Your self?” He said, “This is the only problem, that I can not do myself. But you are the doctor, for what you are here? You suggest some thing!”
So even these medicines or (other) worldly things, worldly heritage, is for worldly people and not for Saints. They come into the world, but they do not have anything, nothing can affect them. Only the good thoughts of the disciples, only the good thoughts of the child can be accepted by Him. Otherwise (if there are no such disciples) they come into the world as if they came into an empty house. In an empty house your arrival and departure has no meaning. Without an awakened person this world is an empty house for the Master Power. If He comes into and goes from the world, it has no meaning. What has the world to do with the Master, or what has the Master to do with the world? He has no give and take process, He has no Pralabdh Karma. He only comes to bear some thing upon Him.
Master used to say, “Give me everything what you have, give me all bad things, give all bad thoughts to me! I have the reservoir to put it there and burn it for all the times.” Nobody can have it, I tell you, only the Master Power can take all our poison and put it somewhere. Otherwise there is no sympathy (no salvation), and one can not be free from the poison, from the poisonous tentacles of the world. You may move in any direction — you will find this problem anywhere in the world.
This whole world is poisoned. By whom? By our own actions. You may be forced (to do some thing wrong), or you may do it by yourself, or such circumstances which may come into your life, may clutch you — only afterwards you know, “Oh, it was this problem. Now it has come to me.” Because such are the things which tackle you just above your intellect.
Those people who do not understand what the astral tendencies are, what the astral play is, they can be affected at any moment by the negative power. Provided they have surrendered to the Master Power, this has no effect. You see, here it takes some time to do the work, but there it works with attention.
So some times with attention you are affected. And once you are affected with the attention, then — with the one attention — it will affect you in the positive or in the negative way. If you meet a good person, you have a better chance to improve and to develop your self. But if you meet a negative person, it certainly will have some effect (to bear). And that will continue with you, if you do not know how to get rid of it. These are very little, little things, but only the mouthpiece of God knows how to discriminate it in the very right time to get rid of the effect of these things. Other people are affected.
Sometimes by looking into the eyes of the opposite sex you are affected immediately. You want to control it, but the effect is there. What will happen? Once you are affected with it, your development is retarding. May be for a little reason or for little time, but your development is retarded. I only gave you one example.
We should have a certain view in our life — to become a Gurmukh, the mouthpiece of God. And how? In order to become a mouthpiece of God one must know the very hidden values of life. These hidden values of life reveal a secret — this very secret will work wonderfully when we leave the physical body. Then we really have no problem.
You know, whenever you meet such an awakened person (you will get something). We used to see our Master: He gave something. When He said something, that was always positive. We should never doubt it, if He says something.
Maybe, I have told you beforehand: There was one person working with me in the Mission of the Master. He was my secretary and I was president in the Amritsar Centre. Master said, “This man will not work with you for more than six months.” Master came there after one year and He said the same thing again. I thought, “Master told beforehand that he will not work for more than six months, then he will leave me, but now one year is over.” But I thought, “No, there must be some secret in it.” Next year Master came again and He said the same thing, “I told you that this man will not work with you for more than six months.” In the third year He told me the very same thing. It was 1973 then, in the month of October, when He came, when He visited Amritsar for the last time. It was the third time that Master said, “This man will not work with you after six months.” So it had continued for three years, but I never had any opinion from my side. (I thought), “It is said by the Master, so there is no problem, something will definitely happen.” Master left the body and fourteen days before the six months were over — this man wrote one letter, saying, “I can not work with you.” So it happened after three years, but the word of the Master was very potent and positive and it be came true. So (that was it) what I had to learn. When Master left the body, I thus came to know that now this man will no longer work with me, maximum he will leave me in six months. So within six months I could do so much just to make my self stand on my legs, and I knew how to control the Mission of the Master. I learned many things from these words of the Master, because this man had played a very foul game. Just to dismantle this whole thing, he celebrated a very big meeting where many buses (full with people) came. He wanted to get us away, but we managed everything beforehand, because we knew the word of the Master, and as we knew, Master helped us also.
We have to learn so many things — little, little things. If you really know what you are doing, not only by intellect, but if you take everything seriously, you say that this is positive and this is negative. Everything is either negative or positive. Everything has its reaction, whether it is a very little or it is a big mistake, a reaction is there. You know, even in our daily life we see this problem. If we live being only surrendered to the Master Power, this reaction will not be there. So Master says, “When you serve the Master, then surrender! Surrender your thoughts, surrender each and every thought to the Master. Do it wholeheartedly in the sweet remembrance of the Master.”
And if your mind disturbs you, what should you do? Do Simran! By charging the Simran or having His sweet remembrance the Master will work wonderfully. Then you will have hundred percent benefit of what you are doing.
So Master has told lots of signs how a mouthpiece of God must live in the world. In which capacity he has to live he knows from his Father. So his life be comes very distinct. Apparently we can not judge how he lives in the world, but only the Master knows that His disciple is now living in the right way. Then He is going and is giving the Grace. If the disciple is falling somewhere, He directs him and tells him how to go on doing it. So he is safe.
Sometimes we say, “No, it is not the right thing. We have to do it this way or that way.” But the same moment the Master Power guides and directs him, telling him this is this, and that is that. This is the way how the Master Power used to help us when there were so many problems. Or when Master wanted some solution, He said, “No, this is this and this is this.”
During our life there were only very few times, when we mixed up something and could not decide. Then we sat in His sweet remembrance and Master helped us. That was in the beginning, I tell you. And Master said, “OK, now do like this!” Master paved the way out. We saw that it was very easy. Then we said, “Master, we have no power to control this thing. We do not have any power to overcome this problem — now guide us!” There was one reason (why Master guided us), that our attention was focused to do all in the right way, to do it in the interest of the Master. Whenever you intend to do it in the best interest of the Master, then the Master Power will definitely guide you. He will give you the way out, He will give it to you clear-cut. When we want to mix up certain things just to get rid of this problem, then may be there is a lack of guidance. Master said, “If you want to do something for the Master in the positive way, then don’t be slow. Do it for the Master in the right and possible way and you will succeed.”
So there are certain things which a mouthpiece of God must do throughout his life. Suppose you have some money or some very precious thing and you want to put it in lock and key, but you can not find the key. It doesn’t mean that you should put it away and put it not in the lock, but you search for the key. When you search the key, then you can put it there. Maybe you have put this key somewhere and you cannot find it now; you should remember where you put it the last day. Yesterday you put it somewhere, but it was you who put the key somewhere. It was not anybody else.
You must (find the key) to open this very lock and put your valuable things there. So the key is with you to open the mystery, the very secret that is binding you with Master. You have the key to unfold it and go straight along with the Master Power. We should never forget that we have to apply the key just to find the right solution to our problem.
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A Gurmukh is he who has become the mouthpiece of his Guru,
one who truly takes the Guru as the ever-present Lord
and keeps his head low before all his Guru’s commands.
Thereby he has become the mouthpiece of the Guru;
and the Guru is the mouthpiece of God.
It is a constant law which is never changed.
— Kirpal Singh (Joyfully I surrender, SSE 2/72)