What comes and goes is unreal

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dhillon

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WHAT COMES AND GOES IS UNREAL

Who comes, and who goes?....It is the Manmukh (i.e. egoism or
conditioned consciousness) that perishes, and comes and goes (sggs 929).
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Coming and going is intrinsic to worldly life — Haume, false ego-sense, Manmukhtaa or material consciousness etc. The Gurbani's edict is what comes and goes is time-bound. Anything that is time-bound cannot be Eternal, hence not Real. To be Eternal or Real means to be free of beginning, middle and end. Whatever comes and goes is bound and limited by beginning, middle and end, therefore unreal — changeful, temporary, fleeting, impermanent, perishable, illusion, or simply "Mithiya". For example, we witness the natural phenomenon of an infant's body after birth going through the natural changes of childhood, youth, adulthood, old age and ultimately death. Accordingly, human life has been described metaphorically as a journey from the womb to the tomb. What begins has to end; what ends has to reappear somewhere. Hence change is the constant factor in material life.
  • ਜੋ ਉਪਜਿਓ ਸੋ ਬਿਨਸਿ ਹੈ ਪਰੋ ਆਜੁ ਕੈ ਕਾਲਿ ॥: Jo oupajiou so binas hai paro aaj kai kaal: Whatever is born will perish, today or tomorrow (sggs 1429).
  • ਦ੍ਰਿਸਟਿਮਾਨ ਹੈ ਸਗਲ ਮਿਥੇਨਾ ॥: Dristimaan hai sagal mithnaa: All that is seen is an illusion (sggs 1083).
  • ਮ੍ਰਿਗ ਤ੍ਰਿਸਨਾ ਜਿਉ ਜਗ ਰਚਨਾ ਯਹ ਦੇਖਹੁ ਰਿਦੈ ਬਿਚਾਰਿ ॥: Mrig trishnaa jiyu jag rachnaa yah dekhahu ridai bichaar: The created world is like a deer's illusion, a mirage — see this, and reflect upon it in your mind (sggs 537).
  • ਜਗਤ ਸੁਖ ਮਾਨੁ ਮਿਥਿਆ ਝੂਠੋ ਸਭ ਸਾਜੁ ਹੈ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥: Jagat sukh mann mithiaa jhootho sabh saaj hai ||1||Rahaaou||: Remember that the pleasures of the world are false; this whole show is just an illusion. ||1||Pause|| (sggs 1352).
  • ਹਉਮੈ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਈ ॥: Ha-umai aavai jaa-ee: In egotism, people come and go (sggs 1003).
  • ਇਆ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ਸਗਲ ਹੈ ਸੁਪਨਾ ॥: Iaa sansaar sagal hai supanaa: This world is just a dream (sggs 258)
Whatever happens between coming and going is only one's Vaasnaas — bundle of memories, undigested desires, conditionings, latent memories, innate tendencies, dispositions, or subtle impressions of the past. This change, which is a law of the nature, characterizes the entire universe. "Then why weep and grieve?", ask the Wise and True Ones.
  • ਮਨਿ ਤਨਿ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਬਹੁਤੁ ਬਿਸਥਾਰਾ ॥: Mani tani baasanaa baht bisathaaraa: The mind and body are filled with immense, expansive Vaasnaa (sggs 1005).
  • ਜਿਤੁ ਲਾਗੋ ਮਨੁ ਬਾਸਨਾ ਅੰਤਿ ਸਾਈ ਪ੍ਰਗਟਾਨੀ ॥: Jit laago manu baasanaa ant saaee pragataanee: That Vaasnaa, to which the mind is attached, at the last moment, becomes manifest (sggs242).
On account of attachments, the common mistake we make is to be complacent that in life everything will be permanent. But, when inevitable change happens we are often caught unaware. It is similar to a boat navigating in the ocean with people aboard the boat enjoying themselves and suddenly confronted by an iceberg. The panic and fear that results can be imagined. But as with all laws of nature, the iceberg started the day the ocean originated and it is only the ignorance of its presence which is responsible for the boatmen's predicament. So also, change is intrinsic to mundane life. But it is our ignorance that is responsible for our suffering. To make the point, the Gurbani says even this body that was born with us will deceive and vanish any moment, what to speak of other things! To put it otherwise, all that is in memory and everything seen will perish.
  • ਜੋ ਤਨੁ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਸੰਗ ਹੀ ਸੋ ਭੀ ਸੰਗਿ ਨ ਹੋਇਆ ॥: Jo than oupajiaa sang hee so bhee sang na hoiaa: Even that body, which you were born with, will not go along with you in the end (sggs 726).
  • ਬਿਰਖ ਬਸੇਰੋ ਪੰਖਿ ਕੋ ਤੈਸੋ ਇਹੁ ਸੰਸਾਰੁ ॥: Birakh basero pankh ko taiso ihu sansaar: This world is like the perch of the bird on the tree (sggs 337).
  • ਇਹੁ ਮੋਹੁ ਮਾਇਆ ਤੇਰੈ ਸੰਗਿ ਨ ਚਾਲੈ ਝੂਠੀ ਪ੍ਰੀਤਿ ਲਗਾਈ ॥: Ih moh Maya terai sang na chhallai jhoothee pareet lagaayee: This emotional attachment to Maya (worldliness, illusion, etc.) will not go with you; falls is to fall in love with it (sggs 78).
  • ਪੰਚਮੀ ਪੰਚ ਭੂਤ ਬੇਤਾਲਾ ॥: Panchamee panch bhoot betaalaa: Panchamee: those who identify with this body of five elements are crazy (sggs 839).
In other words, anything made of the five elements is unreal; for it's temporary. Because the time-bound consciousness (ego, instinctive mind or Haume) to arise, it needs a form made of five elements. Once it has arisen, it cannot stand still — it must scurry around like a mouse. And this scurrying around takes place in the domain of Maya's three qualities: Taamas (ignorance), Raagas (passion), and Saatav (goodness). Thus, Maya is nothing but ignorance, for which a Gurmukh (Wise and Pure One) has no use at all. Evil passions — lust, anger, greed, emotional attachment, self-conceit, envy, stubborn mindedness, and their numerous variations — are the outward expansion of the five elements. In other words, these elements are the seed of which the world of name and shape is the tree. Upon end of the body, these five elements disappear along with the world-appearance.
  • ਅਪੁ ਤੇਜੁ ਵਾਇ ਪ੍ਰਿਥਮੀ ਆਕਾਸਾ ॥ ਤਿਨ ਮਹਿ ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਘਰਿ ਵਾਸਾ ॥: Apu tej vaai prithamee aakaasaa. Tin mahi panch tatu ghar vaasaa: Water, fire, air, earth and ether; the Spirit Soul dwells in the body-house made of the five elements (sggs 1031).
  • ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਤੇ ਜਨਮਾ ॥: Ihu manu panch tatu te janamaa: This mind is born of the five elements (sggs 415).
  • ਪੰਚ ਤਤੁ ਮਿਲਿ ਕਾਇਆ ਕੀਨੀ ॥: Panch dhaat vich paaeean mohu jhooth gumaan: Into the body of the five elements are infused attachment, falsehood and self-conceit (sggs 786).
  • ਪੰਚ ਭੂ ਆਤਮਾ ਵਸਿ ਕਰਹਿ ਤਾ ਤੀਰਥ ਕਰਹਿ ਨਿਵਾਸੁ ॥੨॥ ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਇਹੁ ਮਨੁ ਮੁਗਧੁ ਹੈ ਸੋਝੀ ਕਿਛੂ ਨ ਪਾਇ ॥ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਬੁਝਈ ਅੰਤਿ ਗਇਆ ਪਛੁਤਾਇ ॥੩॥: Panch bhoo aatmaa vasi karahi ta tirath karahi nivaas. ||2|| Manmukhi ih mann mughad hai sojhee kishoo na paai. Har kaa naam n bujhaee NT Gaiaa pashutaai ||3||: If you overcome the mind (born of) five elements (material nature or Maya), then you will come to have a home at the true place of pilgrimage-Aatmaan. ||2|| This mind of the Manmukh (materialistis, self-willed, etc.) is so stupid; he does not obtain any understanding at all. he does not understand (value - ਕਦਰ - of the) God's Name; he departs repenting in the end ||3|| (sggs 491).
Man's false ego-sense is responsible for his bondage as well as his sorrows. Ego is very difficult to overcome, as its manifestation is very subtle. Once the psychological ego (Haume) has raised its head, we want to make our worldly existence eternal. Strong material tendencies resulting from this attachment to individuality or false "I" forms bondage: ego-Maya. In other words, when mental modifications or objectivity arises in consciousness, the latter becomes conditioned and limited, that is bondage. Simply put, on account of foolishness, it is the subjection of the individual being to cycles of pain and pleasure (Doojaa Bhaav or duality). The Gurbani declares that it is this bondage which results in one's coming and going.
  • ਮਿਥਿਆ ਤਨੁ ਸਾਚੋ ਕਰਿ ਮਾਨਿਓ ਇਹ ਬਿਧਿ ਆਪੁ ਬੰਧਾਵੈ ॥: Mithiaa tann saacho kar maanio ih bidh aap bandhaavai: O man, you see this false body as true; in this way, you have placed yourself in bondage (sggs 1231).
  • ਹਉਮੈ ਬੰਧਨ ਬੰਧਿ ਭਵਾਵੈ ॥: Houmai bandhan bandh bhavaavai: Egoism binds people in bondage, and causes them to wander around lost (sggs 227).
  • ਮਾਇਆ ਮੋਹਿ ਸਭੋ ਜਗੁ ਬਾਧਾ ॥: Maya mohi sabho jagu baadhaa: Attached to Maya, the whole world is in bondage (sggs 394).
  • ਬੰਧਨਿ ਬਾਧਿਆ ਆਈਐ ਜਾਈਐ ॥: Bandhan baadhiaa aaeeai jaaeeai: Bound in bondage, one comes and goes (sggs 832).
  • ਮਨ ਕਾ ਅੰਧੁਲਾ ਮਾਇਆ ਕਾ ਬੰਧੁ ॥: Mann kaa andhulaa Maya kaa bandh: One is mentally blind in the bondage of Maya (sggs 354).
  • ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ਦੂਜੈ ਲੋਭਾਇ ॥: Aavai jaai dhoojai lobhaai: In attachment to duality, one comes and goes (sggs 643).
  • ਅੰਤਰਿ ਜੋਰੁ ਹਉਮੈ ਤਨਿ ਮਾਇਆ ਕੂੜੀ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥: Antar jor houmai tani Maya koorree aavai jaae: The false ones come and go because the power of egotism prevails within them, whilst their body is controlled by Maya; (sggs 1414).
Evidently, that which comes or that which has beginning is not eternal and thus cannot escape end. So the Gurbani urges us to see deeper into the total unreality of coming and going or life and death (repeated suffering), which only exists in our seeming in the outer layers of consciousness (Haume or I-am-ness). Because living in such fragmented consciousness (or ignorance) prevents us from going within long enough to gain esoteric understanding (or becoming a Gurmukh). In absence of such understanding, it is not possible for us to unwind and reeducate our conditioned consciousness. Consequently, on accounts of doubts created by misunderstanding, we are unable to free ourselves from the cycles of cause-and-effect, which are the vehicles of the foolish or external mind (ego or Haume).
  • ਬਿਨੁ ਬੂਝੇ ਵਡਾ ਫੇਰੁ ਪਇਆ ਫਿਰਿ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਈ ॥: Bin boojhay vadaa fer pa-i-aa fir aavai jaa-ee: Without understanding, one must wander around the big cycle of continue coming and going (sggs 511).
  • ਹਉਮੈ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਵਣਾ ॥: Houmai aavai jaai bharam bhulaavanaa: In ego, one comes and goes, wandering in confusion, deluded by doubt (sggs 751).
What then is the way out? The Gurbani says it is imperative that one has to make an effort to put an end to the transitory state by realizing the Self (God, Truth etc.) in this birth. We are also repeatedly reminded by the Gurbani that we all are "Joti-Svaroopa" (the state of Pure Consciousness), which is without a beginning and hence neither cause nor effect — Immortal Factor who is never born and can never die. Here the Gurbani has shown us a simple way to end the consciousness of coming and going by training the lower mind to become a Gurmukh (Spiritual Being) and recognize that we are not this body, but "Joti-Svaroopa". To put it otherwise, when Haume — ego tendencies, movement in consciousness, subjection of senses to pleasure or false satisfaction — has ceased, there is the freedom from falsehood.
  • ਹਉਮੈ ਬਾਧਾ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਛੂਟਾ ॥: Houmai baadhaa garmukhi shootaa: Egotism is bondage; by becoming a Gurmukh, one is emancipated (sggs 131).
Only the Joti-Svaroopa (Pure Self) is Eternal, Unconditioned or Unchanging, free of coming and going. Hence Self-realization will give lasting Joy and end the repeated suffering as Self-knowledge neutralizes all the Karma. How can one experience this Self? As time and again indicated in the Gurbani, for the early Spiritual Unfoldment, the most suited path for these times of Kali yuga is Naam-Simran (meditation or Jap). This is said to be the most effective and important Spiritual practice for the Kali Yuga for transcending the deluded consciousness of coming and going. Other complimentary Spiritual practices include truthfulness, true love for all, selflessness, detachment, devotion, selfless service, diligent study of the scriptures and using the teachings as a Spiritual Guide for daily living, Self-inquiry, introspection, Spiritual-company or Satsang, etc. Once all the movements or impulse of the false ego-sense is ceased, the Ultimate State is achieved. To a person situated in that state of Spiritual Essence, nothing comes and goes. For him all happenings of the world are mere entertaining show.
  • ਅਸਥਿਰੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਦੇਖੀਐ ਹੋਰੁ ਕੇਤੀ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥: Asthir kartaa daykhee-ai hor kaytee aavai jaai: The Creator alone is seen to be Eternal; all others come and go (sggs54).
  • ਜਿਨਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਨ ਚੇਤਿਓ ਸੁ ਅਉਗੁਣਿ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥: Jin har har naam na chaytio so aougun aavai jaai: Those who have not contemplated the Name of the Lord are unworthy; they come and go (sggs 22).
  • ਰਾਮ ਨਾਮ ਬਿਨੁ ਮਿਥਿਆ ਮਾਨੋ ਸਗਰੋ ਇਹੁ ਸੰਸਾਰਾ ॥: Raam naam bin mithiaa maano sagaro ihu sansaaraa: Without God's Name, know that this whole world is false (sggs 703).
  • ਬਾਬੀਹਾ ਏਹੁ ਜਗਤੁ ਹੈ ਮਤ ਕੋ ਭਰਮਿ ਭੁਲਾਇ ॥ ਇਹੁ ਬਾਬੀਂਹਾ ਪਸੂ ਹੈ ਇਸ ਨੋ ਬੂਝਣੁ ਨਾਹਿ ॥ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ਜਿਤੁ ਪੀਤੈ ਤਿਖ ਜਾਇ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਜਿਨ੍* ਪੀਆ ਤਿਨ੍* ਬਹੁੜਿ ਨ ਲਾਗੀ ਆਇ ॥: Baabeehaa aehu jagat hai mat ko bharam bhulaae....: This material world is the rainbird, have no doubt about it. But this rainbird being in an animal consciousness does not understand that the God's Name is the Amrit (Nectar) and that by drinking in it (Maya's) thirst is quenched. Says Nanak, those who by becoming Gurmukhs drink it in will never again be afflicted by (Maya's) thirst (sggs1283).
  • ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਸਚੁ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਮਨਮੁਖਿ ਆਵੈ ਜਾਇ ॥: Nanak gurmukh sach kamaavai manmukh aavai jaai. O Nanak, the Gurmukhs (Spiritual Beings) practice Truth, while the Manmukhs (worldly beings) continue coming and going (sggs 87).
  • ਭਉ ਭੁਇ ਪਵਿਤੁ ਪਾਣੀ ਸਤੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਬਲੇਦ ॥ ਹਲੁ ਹਲੇਮੀ ਹਾਲੀ ਚਿਤੁ ਚੇਤਾ ਵਤ੍ਰ ਵਖਤ ਸੰਜੋਗੁ ॥ ਨਾਉ ਬੀਜੁ ਬਖਸੀਸ ਬੋਹਲ ਦੁਨੀਆ ਸਗਲ ਦਰੋਗ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਨਦਰੀ ਕਰਮੁ ਹੋਇ ਜਾਵਹਿ ਸਗਲ ਵਿਜੋਗ ॥੨॥: Bhaou bhui pavit paanee sat santokh bled. Hal halemee haalee chit chetaa vattar vakhat sanjog. Naau beej bakhsees bohal duniaa sagal darog. Nanak nadree karam hoi jaavahi sagal vijog ||2||: Make the Fear of God the farm, purity (pure conduct) the water, truth and contentment the cows and bulls (to till the field), humility the plow, consciousness the plowman, (God's) remembrance (Simran, meditation, etc.) the preparation of the soil, and union with God the planting time. Let God's Name be the seed, and His Forgiving Grace the harvest. Do this, and the whole world will seem false (ephemeral, temporary fleeting, etc.). O Nanak, (on account of this Uddam or self-effort, when) He (God) bestows His Merciful Glance of Grace, then all separation (from God) will be ended ||2|| (sggs 955).
  • ਗਿਆਨੁ ਭਇਆ ਤਹ ਕਰਮਹ ਨਾਸੁ ॥: Giaan bhaiaa tah karamah naasu: With Divine Knowledge ends the Karma (sggs 1167).
 
Whatsoever is observed comes and goes, is subject to change.

Only the observer remains always.

Who is the observer?
 
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