Wisdom of the Mystics: Bulleh Shah Ji

Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of The Bearded Mystic Podcast and I'm your host, Rahul N.

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Singh.

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Thank you for taking out the time today to either watch or listen to this podcast episode.

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Today we will be continuing on with my series on the wisdom of the mystics.

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Last month we looked at the teachings of Sree Narayana Guruji and we learned a lot about his teachings of Advaita Vedanta that was linked with social reform through abolishing the caste system, and it was really insightful to read his works and discuss it with you last month and today we'll be looking at the famous Sufi Mystic Bulleh Shah Ji, he was in Punjab and his poetry is well known amongst a lot of Indians today because of its sheer honesty.

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So let's get started.

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We will be looking at the first poem.

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What we are gonna do is we are gonna go through each poem, but we're gonna go through each stanza at a time because there's a lot to pack in this episode.

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Poem one.

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In one point, the whole tale is concluded.

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Stick to the point leave all calculations and accounts.

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Do away with hell and punishment of Grave.

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Close all the chapters of all the scriptures.

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Do cleanse your dreams of heart and rapture.

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The whole narrative points to the one reality.

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In one point, the whole tale is concluded.

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Here we can understand that in one point it implies that there is a sign, there's this one sign, this one point where everything is understood, where everything is shown to us.

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We can then see that deeper truth right ahead of us.

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And all we need to know is that the truth is within that one sign.

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So some people call it the ishara.

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Some people call it the method.

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Some people call it the insignia, the mark.

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It's something that just triggers that realization, that triggers want to understand the truth, that allows one to absorb the truth completely in one go.

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Now it seems like enlightenment happens at one point is what Bulleh Shah's talking about.

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But if you think about it, enlightenment actually takes several points until that one last point.

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You have several sub points before you get to the main point.

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In one point the whole tale is concluded and the whole tale meaning enlightenment.

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So if you understand that you can stick to the Brahm Gyana or the truth and you just stay with it, you, you literally absorb yourself in it, immerse yourself in it.

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Then that one sign is more than enough.

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That one pointing is more than enough.

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One word can be enough, you know, we don't need to think so much.

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We don't need to intellectualize so much when we are in that capacity to understand the truth.

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So we don't need to also calculate our karma.

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Have we done enough?

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Have we not done enough?

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Do we need to do more?

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Do we need to do less?

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All of that doesn't need to be calculated or anything like that.

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Hence he says, stick to the point, leave all calculations and accounts.

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Who cares?

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Some people say, there's karmic accounts, who cares?

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At the end of the day, what we have to look for is how can we get to enlightenment?

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How can we get to that point?

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So stick to the truth and we will get there.

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That's what he's saying.

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Then he says, really, nobody can scare you with the threat of hell.

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Who has seen it, and nor can someone tell you that you'll be punished by death.

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For example, when Bulleh Shah Ji says, do away with hell, he's literally saying, get away with these concepts.

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People trying to make you fooled into thinking you are lesser than what you are.

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You are this truth.

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Why are you allowing yourself to be entertained by such concepts?

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And then on top of that, he says, it's the punishment of grave.

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Like, yes, death is going to happen.

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It seems like a punishment, but stop thinking of it.

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Like a punishment.

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Death is not a punishment.

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Death is merely a sign that this is not the end.

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That's what it is.

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It's the end for the current body and mind and the manifestation of it.

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But is there something that is beyond it?

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And he doesn't just mention just hell and the grave, he even says, close all the chapters to the scriptures because the one sign is enough.

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We don't need to be thinking about what chapter says this, what chapter says that?

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For example, we've been going through the verses of the Bhagavad Gita.

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We've been going through so many chapters so far.

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Does it mean that we do not know the truth, if we don't memorize everything or sometimes it can even mean that if we take each chapter in itself and we think of them as separate pieces rather than one whole tapestry, what happens is we get further confused because we will find contradictions in the scripture.

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So he says close all the chapters of all the scriptures.

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At the end of the day, this one point is all you need, right?

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That one pointing, that one ishara, that one teaching that can change your life.

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Truth is never delayed, it is forever revealed.

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This is something we need to understand.

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We don't have to wait for the truth.

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It's already here right now.

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We can realize this truth and it won't take us long.

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Then he says, do cleanse your dreams of heart and rapture.

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Clean your heart of anything of meaning, like whether it is hell, whether it is a certain rapture event.

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Get rid of all these notions.

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There's no need for them.

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Yeah, everything written and said points to this one pointing, this one truth.

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And this is where our focus and attention needs to be.

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So this one reality of reman is supreme.

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That's all we have to understand.

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Hence, he says the whole narrative points to that one Reality.

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So we don't need to get stuck in the stories, what's been written in the chapters of the scriptures, what's in our hearts of desires, we don't need to look at any of these things.

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We just need to go straight to the One, that is always present, always here.

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Then in the next verse, he says, we bow our forehead all in vain, carved scar on forehead without any gain.

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People chuckle at the mere reading of Kalma.

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We hardly believe with our heart was saying Kalma.

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Kalma meaning prayer, the Islamic prayer.

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We bow our heads sometimes outta custom and the appearance of respect.

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We, we see this, people do this all the time.

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They bow their foreheads, but really it's for nothing.

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Or they ritualistically do it and it has no meaning to them.

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And inside their mind they may be thinking something else.

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They may be feeling some other feelings.

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They may be bowing in front of something with reverence, but they have some sort of, expectation.

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Nowadays, spirituality, religion has become literally a business on an individual level, not on a whole holistic level in terms of spiritual organizations or religious organizations.

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But even ourselves, we are trying to make business with some God telling this God that if He does this for us, then we will do this or we will do that.

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We are literally trying to bargain and you can't bargain with the Truth.

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Inside our head we may feel something different.

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So what's the point of bowing and you know, if we are bowing and touching the floor, the repetition of that ritualistic action will only leave a scar on our head.

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But what is the value of that?

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All we get is a physical scar, but is there an increase in our devotion?

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No.

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Why?

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Because we have some expectations.

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We're bowing ritualistically, without any meaning, without any purpose, without knowing the awareness of this truth.

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And if you think about it, it is a radical statement that he's been making so far.

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He even says, people chuckle at the mere reading of the Kalma because what are you reading to and who for and what for?

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Are you speaking to the One Reality that is already present and always has been present?

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Or are you chatting to something that you want to believe is true?

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Is this something you know to be true or something you believe to be true?

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This is what Bulleh Shah is saying.

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And then the final line to that verse is remarkable.

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He says, we may say our prayers, we may do our practices, but do we believe it with our own heart?

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Do we?

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Do we honestly feel there is truth there?

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We normally seek to know God outta fear.

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But not out of a real thirst to know this reality.

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Do we really want to know this reality or is it merely, I want to know this God, because if I don't, something bad will happen.

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I will go to hell.

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I will be in suffering.

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I will have to live another life.

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No, this is not the way.

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This is not what Bulleh Shah wants us to do.

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Then he says, has the truth ever remained, unfolded and concealed.

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In one point the whole tale is concluded.

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The truth has never been hidden.

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Never has it been taken away, hidden away.

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Not at all.

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Why would the truth be hidden?

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Why?

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Nobody, there is no power in this existence that can hide such a self luminous truth.

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It's self revealing, self illuminating.

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Nothing can hide it.

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No darkness can even put an end to that light.

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It cannot even cover it minutely.

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This is the power of the truth.

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It's not something, you know, when it says, unfolded here means unrevealed.

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It's not something you can fold away and put in your pocket and pretend nobody knows it.

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Whoever says the truth is like that is lying to you.

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It may be a secret, but it's an open secret.

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Once this truth is revealed to you, you see it everywhere.

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There is not one place where this truth is hidden and this is what Bulleh Shah Ji is saying, and it's worth thinking of, this question, has the truth ever remained, unfolded and concealed?

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We think of the past of avatars and the gurus, but has the truth ever been extinguished?

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Look at it.

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We are remembering Bulleh Shah Ji today.

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We've been thinking about Sree Narayana Guruji.

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We've been looking at the Bhagavad Gita with Sri Krishna.

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We looked at the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and Kabir ji J Krishnamurti ji, Osho, Ramana Maharishi, Swami Vivekananda ji, it has been growing.

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They have not been forgotten.

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Therefore, this truth can never be concealed, therefore, focus on this one Reality, and the whole story is finished.

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The story of this separate being when there's only this One Reality.

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A few move to the woods and others to the seas.

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A few eat none but a grain.

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They get exhausted and attract pain.

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They return home wary and tired.

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Some people go, to escape life.

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They go to the mountains, they go to the forest, some go to the jungle in pursuit of spirituality, in pursuit of enlightenment, and some go out to the sea, meaning in pursuit for wealth.

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So you have both, worldly people and spiritual people.

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Some are beggars and they eat whatever is given and what happens.

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They get hungry, they starve themselves and the body experiences pain.

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The very body that has been created, they say by their Lord and they're punishing the very creation of their Lord.

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How does that make any logical sense?

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You know, Mahatma Buddha, he starved himself for so many days.

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He was asked by his wife when he returned back as Mahatma Buddha, he was asked by his wife that, did you have to do all this, that you did to get to enlightenment?

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Could you not have stayed at the palace?

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And he is rumored to have said, you're right.

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I didn't have to do all that.

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I could have stayed in the palace and got what I got.

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Simple.

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If somebody ends up begging or they just eat one grain of rice because that's all they get.

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Either they would get sick, they would get malnourished, or they missed their life that they previously lived, where they will start thinking about food.

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They will start dreaming about feasts.

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Their meditation would be about feasts as well, what food they used to eat.

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So what happens?

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They didn't achieve anything.

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They're now malnourished.

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They get exhausted.

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They return back home wary and tired.

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But this can be meant in two ways.

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One is that they go back to their life they lived in the world, defeated, known to have failed.

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They went to see God and found nothing, or they die and into the next life because they did nothing to get happiness in this life.

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They were not satisfied.

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They were not content.

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Let me take it a step further.

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They returned home very and tired, maybe old.

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Not only did they lose the juice of youth, but they lost out on the upbringing of their children, a decent relationship with their wife or their spouse, they missed out on their grandchildren.

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They missed out on deep conversations with friends.

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That's why spirituality is not about leaving the home, I don't think it's about becoming a monk.

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I really believe that the truth is best realized while you're in the world, and trust me, every monk has to return to the world.

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Where else have these monasteries began?

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Where else do vedanta classes occur?

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Where else?

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In the world! Nobody lets go of the world.

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Everybody has to come back.

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Therefore, it's best to attain everything in this world and offer your services accordingly, your seva accordingly.

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A few of them in Mystic seclusion retired.

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In one point the whole tale is concluded.

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Some have it so simple that they just meditate on the Formless and soon as they meditate, they enter into a oneness with the Formless and everything comes to an end.

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How can we make this easier for us?

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How can we get to that blissful state that even ascetics, monks they cannot attain.

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And what worldly people with all the riches of the world cannot attain.

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So what can happen is even a few people, they may get the mystical experiences, but they don't know what to do next.

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They may go to the jungle, they may face some success.

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But what happens?

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And this in the next verse, Bulleh Shah Ji says: Secure a mentor who would lead to divinity.

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Divine frenzy contains contentment, absolute.

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The divine love would direct you to eternity.

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The heart is gushing out with the truth.

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Beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

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And there's this verse, these four lines are very, very important in spirituality.

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First of all, he says, secure a mentor, find a guru, a teacher, a mentor for spirituality.

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Now you don't have to approach just a Guru.

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Now you can have many mentors in spirituality.

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People who do not call themselves gurus.

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They may be like me who have a podcast and we will help anybody.

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We are not looking for the Sadhguru (Jaggi Vasudev) type of fame.

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We are not looking for that type of following.

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In fact, a mentor will always be looking for quality.

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A friend, a spiritual friend always looks for quality.

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And I would even go further to say that you have certain gurus that I know of personally who even empower their own disciples, and they even give the same level of respect to their own disciples and that is unique.

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Those are the true teachers.

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Those that say only they can be.

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If you see someone as a one man show, or one person show and have not created a next line of rishis or swamis or so forth.

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Real ones a real tradition, a real sampradaya, stay away.

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If we want to truly have any experiences of the divine, we must seek out those that know the Formless.

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This is true.

00:20:42.817 --> 00:20:52.537
Anyone that can get you closer to the awareness of Formless Awareness, the awareness and Nirguna Brahman, that is a person to go for, do not let go of that person.

00:20:52.541 --> 00:21:02.692
Once you find them seek the Truth as much as you can, and be honest, be sincere, and listen and comprehend.

00:21:02.905 --> 00:21:06.596
Don't ask questions for the sake of it.

00:21:08.066 --> 00:21:09.625
Live the answers first.

00:21:10.135 --> 00:21:11.006
Experience them.

00:21:13.836 --> 00:21:17.316
We must ask the mentor to take us to that Ultimate Reality.

00:21:17.316 --> 00:21:23.556
We can't simply accept that, oh, because they're spiritual, they have to do this.

00:21:23.736 --> 00:21:30.246
No, we must first ask them, and we must ensure that the mentor will help us get there.

00:21:30.665 --> 00:21:32.496
The spiritual coach would get us there.

00:21:32.496 --> 00:21:34.296
The spiritual teacher would get us there.

00:21:34.296 --> 00:21:35.556
The Guru would get us there.

00:21:38.076 --> 00:21:42.096
Where once we know our true self, then we are in that divine frenzy.

00:21:43.715 --> 00:21:47.226
We know nothing else but this divine, this divine is everything.

00:21:48.786 --> 00:21:56.945
And this divinity is something that we just keep on consuming and consuming, and we will be forever content with life.

00:21:57.125 --> 00:21:58.925
What more do we want from life?

00:21:59.945 --> 00:22:16.911
And you know, I've picked this verse because I feel it to be true for myself that once you have experienced the divine, once you've experienced Brahman, there is nothing that is close to this.

00:22:18.020 --> 00:22:26.570
There is this contentment, as he says is absolute, and there's no second to it.

00:22:26.576 --> 00:22:31.070
You feel so satisfied with life, and life keeps giving more.

00:22:32.211 --> 00:22:49.326
I often say to people that, if you live in the world and you work, you're sincere, you're honest, and you are also trying your best in spirituality, life will reward you.

00:22:50.016 --> 00:22:51.185
Life will look after you.

00:22:51.185 --> 00:22:52.865
This existence will look after you.

00:22:53.105 --> 00:22:56.915
Why this existence will look after you because it needs people like you.

00:22:59.046 --> 00:23:07.596
So that's why I always say when you want to ask for something from God, if you believe in God, if you believe in this, Formless Awareness.

00:23:07.715 --> 00:23:12.378
If there's anything you must ask, ask for spirituality.

00:23:12.949 --> 00:23:14.689
Ask for spirituality attainment.

00:23:14.929 --> 00:23:16.229
Ask for jivan-mukti.

00:23:16.249 --> 00:23:17.719
Don't ask for anything else.

00:23:17.929 --> 00:23:25.743
If you have a Guru, please only ask for spiritual things from your Guru.

00:23:25.743 --> 00:23:28.294
Do not ask for material things.

00:23:28.534 --> 00:23:29.253
Do not.

00:23:29.913 --> 00:23:43.023
This is my biggest warning because later on you may regret not asking for it.

00:23:44.344 --> 00:23:51.233
And if you are young, even more reason to do so, the quicker you get the the better.

00:23:52.564 --> 00:23:56.314
If you're older now, it's never too late.

00:23:56.433 --> 00:24:02.614
If you have that moment for the next breath right now, you can pause this video and you can ask your Guru.

00:24:02.614 --> 00:24:03.784
You can ask God.

00:24:03.784 --> 00:24:04.864
You can ask the Lord.

00:24:04.864 --> 00:24:09.634
You can ask anyone that you believe in, your isht-devta and ask for spirituality.

00:24:10.354 --> 00:24:11.703
Ask for Divine.

00:24:14.473 --> 00:24:32.574
So because you're in contentment, it means that when other people are entangled in this game of pleasure and pain and jumping between the two, the one who secures a mentor, they find a balanced state.

00:24:33.743 --> 00:24:39.384
That divine love, that bhakti will lead us to eternity towards everlasting life.

00:24:40.943 --> 00:24:50.064
And when we are in love with this Formless, just like a lover is with their Beloved then our mind and heart is consumed by this One.

00:24:50.723 --> 00:24:52.584
There is no other way.

00:24:53.544 --> 00:25:00.773
And since this one is eternal, we become eternal along with it because we have unveiled the True Oneness.

00:25:01.433 --> 00:25:04.733
And then the heart just gushes out the truth.

00:25:05.153 --> 00:25:06.594
And these are very strong words.

00:25:06.594 --> 00:25:09.233
Think about the heart is gushing out with the truth.

00:25:10.193 --> 00:25:22.163
The heart dances in the Truth, sings in the Truth, reads scriptures in the Truth, loves the world with the Truth, just exists in the Truth, and that's what happens.

00:25:22.169 --> 00:25:25.554
The heart is open to new levels.

00:25:25.933 --> 00:25:41.938
And then Bulleh Shah ji concludes; oh Bulleh, the true word is never stalled In one point, the whole word is concluded The whole word.

00:25:42.584 --> 00:25:47.443
Never believe for a second that the truth can get delayed or is ever delayed.

00:25:47.503 --> 00:25:48.523
Never believe this.

00:25:48.523 --> 00:25:49.153
That's number one.

00:25:50.578 --> 00:25:52.108
It is always self revealing.

00:25:52.588 --> 00:25:57.298
Always here, when you're in the awareness of Formless Awareness, you wanna get to that point.

00:25:57.388 --> 00:26:00.088
Attend our Saturday meditation sessions.

00:26:00.419 --> 00:26:03.898
We go into this process, we work with this process.

00:26:04.769 --> 00:26:10.624
And just remember as he says, the true word is never stalled.

00:26:10.864 --> 00:26:12.243
It can never be stopped.

00:26:12.453 --> 00:26:16.173
No power in this world can take us away from the name of the truth.

00:26:16.223 --> 00:26:19.913
You will always be in the Naam, in the Divine Name.

00:26:20.243 --> 00:26:22.723
There is no way you will be away from it.

00:26:25.013 --> 00:26:36.294
Therefore, in that one moment, in that one point where all objects of the world subside and space parts away, there is at one point and all is concluded.

00:26:37.733 --> 00:26:43.943
Where all dissolves away in one point.

00:26:43.943 --> 00:26:45.973
The whole word is concluded.

00:26:45.973 --> 00:26:52.663
The word meaning the Truth, and is concluded.

00:26:53.743 --> 00:26:54.134
Done.

00:26:55.685 --> 00:27:02.165
Let's go to the next poem which is Bulleha least I know who am I?

00:27:03.770 --> 00:27:06.201
So this is gonna be a very interesting poem.

00:27:07.891 --> 00:27:09.990
Neither am I believer in the mosque.

00:27:10.381 --> 00:27:12.570
Neither have I trodden the infidels path.

00:27:13.306 --> 00:27:15.375
Neither am I pious in sinful.

00:27:15.976 --> 00:27:19.036
Nor I, Moses in Pharaohs.

00:27:20.066 --> 00:27:23.236
Bulleha, at least I know, who am I?

00:27:24.195 --> 00:27:27.885
So Bulleh Shah Ji must have been asking, must have been wondering, well who am I?

00:27:28.576 --> 00:27:29.655
What am I doing here?

00:27:29.655 --> 00:27:30.945
What is my purpose here?

00:27:31.516 --> 00:27:32.895
Why am I in this world?

00:27:34.125 --> 00:27:40.096
And so he starts that neither has he attended the mosque, nor the path that others called the infidels path.

00:27:41.506 --> 00:27:49.516
So what he's saying is his path is completely different because a well-trodden path will be breaking apart.

00:27:49.516 --> 00:27:50.836
It'll be wearing down.

00:27:51.766 --> 00:28:03.796
And so one thing he's saying, I'm not part of the established religion, and if you say that I'm not part of the established religion, then part of the other religion, I'm saying I'm not part of that too.

00:28:05.236 --> 00:28:08.115
The ones that you call infidels, I'm not even part of them.

00:28:08.506 --> 00:28:11.558
So he's talking about being beyond both aspects.

00:28:11.845 --> 00:28:14.214
Neither does he have a false sense of purity.

00:28:15.144 --> 00:28:25.194
He could be doing the very things that his religion or any religion prescribes as sinful, but he says he must do them.

00:28:29.035 --> 00:28:36.865
So it doesn't matter if he's pious or he's full of sin, full of mistakes, full of errors, it doesn't matter.

00:28:39.144 --> 00:28:41.454
So basically there's no hypocrisy at all.

00:28:41.664 --> 00:28:48.382
He says your ideas of purity, your ideas of what's wrong and impure, do away with it.

00:28:48.382 --> 00:28:59.602
I don't want anything to do with it, and nor is he Moses that was in the Pharaohs because I believe Moses was adopted too, just like Bulleh Shah ji was.

00:29:00.701 --> 00:29:07.362
So Bulleh Shah ji asks rather rhetorically that, does he at least know who he is?

00:29:07.662 --> 00:29:10.451
And this is a question we must all ask.

00:29:10.571 --> 00:29:16.642
The last line is of that verse, Bulleha least I know who am I?

00:29:16.942 --> 00:29:17.751
Next stanza.

00:29:17.971 --> 00:29:20.821
Nothing I have to do with piety or rottenness.

00:29:21.122 --> 00:29:23.192
Nor am I in pleasure or grief.

00:29:23.461 --> 00:29:25.561
Neither am I of water, nor of earth.

00:29:25.801 --> 00:29:30.602
Neither am I of fire, nor of air Bulleha least I know who am I.

00:29:31.906 --> 00:29:36.707
So Bulleh Shah doesn't have any false sense piety, oh, if I do this, I'm a pure person.

00:29:36.707 --> 00:29:38.416
If I do that, I'm a pure person.

00:29:38.656 --> 00:29:42.826
Nor does he say, if I do this, I'm rotten or bad or terrible.

00:29:44.057 --> 00:29:46.817
Nor is he someone that is rude or arrogant.

00:29:46.967 --> 00:29:52.547
Therefore, he's not going to judge somebody else, nor is he ever in pleasure nor in grief.

00:29:53.537 --> 00:29:57.586
If he receives something beautiful, nice.

00:29:57.856 --> 00:30:00.767
If he receives terrible news or loses something.

00:30:01.352 --> 00:30:02.011
It's okay.

00:30:02.821 --> 00:30:06.041
That is the state of a true person.

00:30:06.571 --> 00:30:11.461
They're relaxed in balance and that's the way to be in life.

00:30:13.832 --> 00:30:22.711
For example, he's not in that state that is beyond every pair of opposite, neither there's happiness and sadness, like and hate, heat and cold.

00:30:22.892 --> 00:30:29.372
He's not going through those pair of opposites and neither is he any of the four elements referring to the body.

00:30:30.076 --> 00:30:32.507
So does he know who he truly is?

00:30:33.227 --> 00:30:34.366
This is the question.

00:30:36.616 --> 00:30:38.376
Then he says in the next stanza.

00:30:38.406 --> 00:30:43.957
Neither have I found the secret of religion, nor was I born of Adam or Eve.

00:30:44.527 --> 00:30:46.717
Neither I gave myself any name.

00:30:47.047 --> 00:30:55.356
Neither am I of those who squat, nor do I have anything to do with dwelling, Bulleha least I know who am I?

00:30:57.352 --> 00:31:01.551
So there is no secret of religion.

00:31:01.701 --> 00:31:04.432
The truth is there for all to see in plain sight.

00:31:04.432 --> 00:31:08.332
There's no way, there is some sort of secret.

00:31:09.231 --> 00:31:11.392
So Bulleh Shah Ji is absolutely right.

00:31:11.767 --> 00:31:14.557
When he says he hasn't found a secret, it's not a secret.

00:31:14.586 --> 00:31:17.227
Like I mentioned earlier, it's the open secret.

00:31:17.616 --> 00:31:24.967
If we say the truth is a secret, then it implies that the truth is not self illuminating and not self luminous.

00:31:25.987 --> 00:31:36.586
This would be going against what we've been teaching and since he isn't part of any of the elements, as he mentioned in the previous one, nor can he be from Adam and Eve.

00:31:37.967 --> 00:31:42.676
Who were apparently the first two people on the earth according to his religion, which was Islam.

00:31:45.047 --> 00:31:48.196
And he says, neither did he even give himself a name.

00:31:48.886 --> 00:31:51.977
His parents gave him his name, or somebody else gave him a name.

00:31:53.596 --> 00:31:57.977
So in essence, he's nameless, which is the truth for everyone.

00:31:57.981 --> 00:31:59.507
Does the atman have a name?

00:32:00.646 --> 00:32:01.007
No.

00:32:01.537 --> 00:32:02.747
Atman does not have a name.

00:32:02.751 --> 00:32:04.037
Neither will it ever have a name.

00:32:05.071 --> 00:32:11.852
In Islam, they squat and he's again claiming he doesn't do any of that, which is in the prescribed religion.

00:32:12.991 --> 00:32:15.721
Nor did he belong to any country or place.

00:32:16.352 --> 00:32:21.602
So he asks again, Bulleha least I know who I am.

00:32:21.632 --> 00:32:23.612
Does he know who he has always been?

00:32:25.862 --> 00:32:32.987
Then he, in the last stanza he says: From the beginning to the end.

00:32:33.406 --> 00:32:34.817
I know nothing but me.

00:32:35.807 --> 00:32:38.297
Nobody else I recognize and found.

00:32:38.807 --> 00:32:41.386
Nobody else more like a sage than you.

00:32:42.096 --> 00:32:44.416
Bulleha, whose spouse is all around.

00:32:45.406 --> 00:32:48.406
Bulleha least I know who I am.

00:32:49.047 --> 00:32:51.027
Here's the concluding verse.

00:32:51.491 --> 00:32:52.781
That is just spectacular.

00:32:53.711 --> 00:32:55.511
Absolutely spectacular.

00:32:57.311 --> 00:33:03.942
If it goes to the very beginning of time and it goes to the very end, what is going to be observed?

00:33:05.021 --> 00:33:06.221
One's true self.

00:33:08.172 --> 00:33:16.241
If the only thing to be found is Formless Awareness, it is one that is aware of the beginning and one that is aware of the end.

00:33:17.142 --> 00:33:18.461
So who's aware of this?

00:33:18.642 --> 00:33:19.451
Myself?

00:33:21.751 --> 00:33:27.132
So Bulleh Shah ji doesn't recognize anything or anyone else, nor does he need to.

00:33:28.422 --> 00:33:30.942
He hasn't found anyone else as the other.

00:33:33.076 --> 00:33:44.165
Then referring to his divine mentor saying that there is no better sage than those, or Formless Awareness, whichever one.

00:33:46.506 --> 00:33:58.402
There's nobody else, more like a sage, nobody as pure, nobody as knowledgeable, as insightful, And he says his Beloved is everywhere.

00:33:58.402 --> 00:34:05.781
His spouse is everywhere, all around, not his physical spouse that he was married to, meaning the Beloved.

00:34:06.051 --> 00:34:10.027
In Bhakti traditions and he calls it his spouse.

00:34:10.027 --> 00:34:21.007
Why to show the intensity of that relationship and in Bhakti traditions, the idea of the jiva being the bride, and Brahman being the groom is often used.

00:34:21.007 --> 00:34:27.097
You see it a lot in the Gurbani and in certain Bhakti poems as well.

00:34:28.036 --> 00:34:38.297
Everywhere he looks, he finds his Beloved, and at least he can say that he knows himself, which is what spirituality is all about.

00:34:38.836 --> 00:34:40.487
There's a lot to gain from that.

00:34:41.686 --> 00:34:47.746
So he literally goes through the whole process of neti-neti to show us of what really remains.

00:34:48.213 --> 00:34:54.963
And then will end with this final poem, which is called people put Truth in controversy.

00:34:57.409 --> 00:35:10.365
Say the truth by heart and soul why fear By telling the truth your success is near Truth entails lasting growth to cheer Truth, indeed is the most strange thing to hear.

00:35:10.632 --> 00:35:12.461
Let's look at this stanza in particular.

00:35:12.942 --> 00:35:17.021
Do not fear speaking about Nirguna Brahman, the absolute Truth.

00:35:17.621 --> 00:35:19.512
Whatever is the Truth, you must speak.

00:35:21.146 --> 00:35:27.206
Be free of any worries or any fear.

00:35:27.371 --> 00:35:31.300
Do not fear telling people what you see and what you deal with.

00:35:32.081 --> 00:35:34.300
If you're talking about Nirguna Brahman, say you are.

00:35:36.190 --> 00:35:40.121
This is a true religious people, those that talk about the truth.

00:35:40.630 --> 00:35:51.641
Some people say, you know, they think if I tell the truth, meaning if I insult somebody, that's what their idea of telling the truth is, telling people how it is.

00:35:52.503 --> 00:35:55.893

Wisdom of the Mystics: Bulleh Shah Ji

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