Sunday, August 15, 2010


DESTINY /ਭਾਗ


ABSTRACT

The word destiny has many different synonyms like; karma, kismet; chance, luck. Fate, doom refers to the idea of a fortune, usually adverse, that is predetermined and inescapable. The three words are frequently interchangeable. Fate stresses the irrationality and impersonal character of events and is often lightly used. Destiny emphasizes the idea of an unalterable course of events, and is often used of a propitious fortune: It was his destiny to save his nation. Doom esp. applies to the final ending, always unhappy or terrible, brought about by destiny or fate: something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune; lot: It is always his fate to be left behind.  It could be the universal principle or ultimate agency by which the order of things is presumably prescribed; the decreed cause of events; time: which is inevitably predetermined; destiny: Death is our ineluctable fate. Classical Mythology of the Greeks suggests the three Greek Gods of destiny like Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo, Greek Goddesses like Aphrodite, Hera and Athena and Titans like Atlas and to the Romans as the Parcae.

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It can also be defined that out of our thoughts and beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character, and on our character, we build our destiny. Our destiny changes with our thought; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do when our habitual thought corresponds with our desire. I believe that one controls his/her destiny and one can be what he/she wants to be. One can also stop and say, 'No, I won't do it, I won't behave his way anymore, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving,' and then do it. I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person. It's choice--not chance--that determines your destiny. It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved. Some are destined to succeed, some are determined to succeed.

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. ~William Shakespeare 

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning. ~ Albert Einstein.

Sabd Guru clearly gives direction to cross the worldly ocean (ਭਵਜਲ) to remember God as our destiny in thought, word and deed meaning living the teachings as used mainly by Gurus Arjan & Tegh Bahadur, Bhagat Ravidas, and Bhatt Nal;

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਗੋਵਿੰਦ ਅਧਾਰੁ ॥
ਤਾ ਤੇ ਛੁਟਿਓ ਬਿਖੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ॥
Man bacẖ karam govinḏ aḏẖār. Ŧā ṯė cẖẖuti­o bikẖ sansār.

In thought, word and deed, seek the Support of the God of the Universe; thus you shall be saved from the poisonous world-ocean.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Gauri, AGGS, Page, 197-5

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਅਪਨਾ ਧਿਆਈ  
ਨਾਨਕ ਦਾਸ ਤੇਰੀ ਸਰਣਾਈ
Man bacẖ karam parabẖ apnā ḏẖi­ā­ī. Nānak ḏās ṯėrī sarṇā­ī.
In thought, word and deed, I meditate on my Go. Slave Nanak has come to Your Sanctuary.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Gauri, AGGS, Page, 200-9

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਜਿਹ ਆਪਿ ਜਨਾਈ  
ਨਾਨਕ ਤਿਹ ਮਤਿ ਪ੍ਰਗਟੀ ਆਈ
Man bacẖ karam jih AP janā­ī. Nānak ṯih maṯ pargatī ā­ī.

Those whom God Itself instructs in thought, word and deed -O Nanak, their intellect are enlightened.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Gauri, AGGS, Page, 259-8

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਪ੍ਰਭੁ ਏਕੁ ਧਿਆਏ  
ਸਰਬ ਫਲਾ ਸੋਈ ਜਨੁ ਪਾਏ
Man bacẖ karam parabẖ ėk ḏẖi­ā­ė. Sarab falā so­ī jan pā­ė.

One who meditates on the One God in thought, word and deed - that humble being receives the fruits of all rewards.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Suhi, AGGS, Page, 760-6

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮਿ ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮੁ ਚਿਤਾਰੀ
ਘੂਮਨ ਘੇਰਿ ਮਹਾ ਅਤਿ ਬਿਖੜੀ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਨਾਨਕ ਪਾਰਿ ਉਤਾਰੀ
Man bacẖ karam rām nām cẖiṯārī. Gẖūman gẖėr mahā aṯ bikẖ­ṛī gurmukẖ Nānak pār uṯārī.

In thought, word and deed, I contemplate God's Name. The horrible world-ocean is very treacherous; O, Nanak, the Guru willed is carried across.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Ramkali, AGGS, Page, 916-13                                
ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਆਰਾਧੈ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਸਾਧਸੰਗਿ ਸੁਖੁ Ignore
ਅਨਦ ਬਿਨੋਦ ਅਕਥ ਕਥਾ ਰਸੁ ਸਾਚੈ ਸਹਜਿ ਸਮਾਇਆ
Man bacẖ karam ārāḏẖai har har sāḏẖsang sukẖ pā­i­ā. Anaḏ binoḏ akath kathā ras sācẖai sahj samā­i­ā.

He, who worships, adores The Creator, in thought, word and deed, in the Company of the holy, finds peace. He enjoys bliss and pleasure, and savors the Unspoken Speech of God, and merges intuitively into the True Supreme Power.-----Guru Arjun, Raag Sarang, AGGS, Page, 1220-8

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਨ ਨਹੀ ਗਾਏ ਯਹ ਜੀਅ ਸੋਚ ਧਰਉ  
ਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸੁਨਿ ਕਛੁ ਗਿਆਨੁ ਨ ਉਪਜਿਓ ਪਸੁ ਜਿਉ ਉਦਰੁ ਭਰਉ
Man bacẖ karam har gun nahī gā­ė yeh jī­a socẖ ḏẖara­o. Gurmaṯ sun kacẖẖ gi­ān na upji­o pas ji­o uḏar bẖara­o.

In thought, word and deed, I have not sung God's Praises; this thought worries my mind. I listened to the Guru's Teachings, but spiritual wisdom did not well up within me; like a beast, I fill my belly.------Guru Tegh Bahadur, Raag Dhanasari, AGGS, Page, 685-8

ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਰਸ ਕਸਹਿ ਲੁਭਾਨਾ ॥
ਬਿਨਸਿ ਗਇਆ ਜਾਇ ਕਹੂੰ ਸਮਾਨਾ ॥
Man bacẖ karam ras kaseh lubẖānā. Binas ga­i­ā jā­ė kahū­aʼn samānā.

In thought, word and deed, he is attached to the sweet and tangy flavors. When he dies, no one knows where he has gone. -----Ravidas, Raag Asa, AGGS, Page, 487-7

ਫੁਨਿ ਮਨ ਬਚ ਕ੍ਰਮ ਜਾਨੁ ਅਨਤ ਦੂਜਾ ਨ ਮਾਨੁ ਨਾਮੁ ਸੋ ਅਪਾਰੁ ਸਾਰੁ ਦੀਨੋ ਗੁਰਿ ਰਿਦ ਧਰ
Fun man bacẖ karam jān anaṯ ḏūjā na mān nām so apār sār ḏīno gur riḏ ḏẖar.

In thought, word and deed, I know God; I do not worship any other. The Guru has enshrined the most excellent Name of the Infinite God within my heart.-----Bhatt Nal, Sawaeeya Mahlay 4, AGGS, Page, 1398-19

CONCLUSION:

Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny. If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things. If you can't change your fate, change your attitude. I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve divinity in humanity which in other words is service to God Itself. This leads to a question that destiny is associated directly to spiritual growth through the evolvement of character.

Questions arise; can spirituality ever be divorced from the question of character?

Is it possible to be spiritual if one is not a decent person?

AGGS is replete with hidden meanings, spiritual secrets and mystical moments that do not really kid stuff. It is a combination of qualities that makes an individual the sort of ethically admirable person he is. It is the settled condition we are in when we are well off in relation to feelings and actions leading to an unconflicted state where emotional response and rational assessment speak with the same voice. The moral law dictates that we need strength provided by our faith to fulfill our imperfect duties, leading directly to our destiny as taught by the teachings incorporated in Sabd Guru.


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