Our Soul is in God and God is in the Soul - Atam men Ram, Ram men Atam - Guru Nanak

Our soul is in God and God is in the soul.
The Guru to his gurmukhs reveals the whole.
Immortal Shabd, the True Word sublime,
Kills the ego and cleanses the shrine.1
Nanak, the pernicious disease of ego
I find wherever I go.
To those that He wished to save,
The gift of Nam He always gave.
As a coin tester coins does test
Cuts the false and stores the rest,
So the Lord selection makes,
And the pure He Homeward takes.
False are water, fire and air;
False is earth that looks so fair.
False are father, sister and mother,
False is body, false is brother.
False are the creator and the destroyer,
False the world and false the supplier.2
Of their falsehood only those were cured
Who heard the Word and in Love endured.
False are all the seas and rivers as they stand,
False the lower regions and the Netherlands.3
True only are His lovers,
On them His grace He ever showers.
False is philosophy with all its schools,
False the ascetics and all their rules.
In vain the books and Vedas claim;
They find not the Lord, though ‘tis their aim.
Dainty dishes lead to disease;
Herbs and roots—no pleasure in these.
Who ignores the Word and its meaning forgets,
Suffers at death with dismay and regrets.
Not by pilgrimage is the malady cured,
Nor by learning is Truth secured.
Worship of gods and mammon vile
Makes us slaves of Maya’s guile.
Master’s gurmukhs are steeped in Sound,
And purified, are Homeward bound.
O Nanak, happy is the chosen son
On whom does glance the Beloved One.
Adi Granth, p. 1153, M.1

"The soul is in God, and God is in the soul," says Guru Nanak. But the realization that we are in God and that God is in us, comes only when—through the grace of the Master and by following his teachings—we are able to develop this vision. The big banyan tree is potentially in the tiny seed, and the seed of this large tree is very small. If one did not know this fact, he would never believe it. However, one has only to sow the seed in suitable soil, water it and give it the proper care; then, in due course, the sapling will develop. The trunk and the branches will grow into such enormous size as to be able to shelter thousands of people beneath it. In the same way, God is within us and we are in Him, though we are not able to realize this truth owing to the veil of egotism in between.

Our soul is a drop from the ocean of Sach Khand. It is a drop from the Deity, but on account of association with the mind, we do things which involve us and keep us tied to this world of phenomena, through painful or pleasing experiences. Intrinsically the soul is divine, is pure, and has nothing to keep it down; but desires and association with the mind keep it in this world. The mind in turn is ruled by the senses, and the attachments and consequent desires pull us down and keep us away from our True Home.

The water in the clouds is pure, but when it falls on the ground it gets mixed with dust and becomes dirty. However, under the influence of the sun’s heat, it goes up again as vapor. It is condensed in the clouds and, thus purged of the dirt and made pure as before, joins its origin—the place from which it came.

We seek God because it is only in Him that we can be really and permanently happy. All pleasures are temporary and evanescent. For a short time they please us, then they begin to cloy and, in the end, only make us even more miserable. We strive to gain wealth and position and to secure friends, but when we lose them, how miserable we feel! Friends, relatives, companions—all make us happy for the time being, but they cannot last forever, and then we feel the loss keenly. However, when we reach Sach Khand and attain union with God, there is nothing that can deprive us of happiness or bring us back here. Then we are eternally happy.

1. The human body.
2. The Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva––the creator, the nourisher and the destroyer.
3. Everything that is not eternal is false; that is, all the regions below the fifth spiritual region as well as all the hells.

© "Light on Sant Mat" by Maharaj Charan Singh, published by Sewa Singh, Secretary, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Dera Baba Jaimal Singh Post 143 204, Amritsar District, Punjab. Reprinted with permission.

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