We Got It Twisted!!

One thing that struck me is how back to front we have certain things.

So many times, we are made to believe that society wants us to believe and we are totally unaware of this even taking place.

This is Maya 'the curtain of illusion' that Guru ji mentions so much in Bani:

"jaisee agan oudhur mehi thaisee baahar maaeiaa
As is the fire within the womb, so is Maya outside.

maaeiaa agan subh eiko jaehee kuruthai khael ruchaaeiaa
The fire of Maya is one and the same; the Creator has staged this play.

jaa this bhaanaa thaa junmiaa puruvaar bhulaa bhaaeiaa
According to His Will, the child is born, and the family is very pleased.

liv shurrukee lugee thrisunaa maaeiaa amur vuruthaaeiaa
Love for the Lord wears off, and the child becomes attached to desires; the script of Maya runs its course.

eaeh maaeiaa jith har visurai mohu oupujai bhaao dhoojaa laaeiaa
This is Maya, by which the Lord is forgotten; emotional attachment and love of duality well up.

kehai naanuk gur purusaadhee jinaa liv laagee thinee vichae maaeiaa paaeiaa
Says Nanak, by Guru's Grace, those who enshrine love for the Lord find Him, in the midst of Maya. ||29||"

Extract from 'Siri Anand Sahib', 5th Daily Prayer of the Sikhs

How beautiful this verse is…

It sums up the cycle of life so perfectly.

1. We are born, babies are innocent and cute!


2. We get older, and find out about Maya (worldly attachment, it seems so sweet to the mind compared to religious walks of life).


3. Eventually we either lose faith in any type of God, or we follow a “slack” version of our religious duties because of it. [Amritvela/keeping hair in its natural form/our diets]


4. We die in the illusion in which we lived our lives:

“They may live in heavenly realms, and conquer the nine regions of the world, but if they forget the Lord of the world, they are just wanderers in the wilderness. In the midst of millions of games and entertainment, the Lord’s Name does not come to reside in their minds and hearts. Their home is like a wilderness, in the depths of hell. He sees the terrible, awful wilderness as a city. Gazing upon the false objects, he believes them to be real. Engrossed in sexual desire, anger and egotism, he wanders around insane. When the Messenger of Death hits him on the head with his club, then he regrets and repents. Without the Perfect, Divine Guru, he roams around like Satan.[707] ”

An example of this Maya, that ‘hit me’ today is “Self Confidence”, what a farce!

I agree that without a degree of confidence we become anti-social, isolated or even depressed but we shouldn’t be proud of ourselves.

“You are so proud of your body; it shall perish in an instant, my friend.”

We should thank Vaheguru for the bodies/abilities we have, and be proud that our Guru Ji is so perfect. However, to be proud of ourselves is just going to increase our ego/haumai and take us further away from God.