What is the difference between love and emotional attachment? This is what needs to be understood in the first place. Today, people talk about love all the time. In fact, true love can only be understood on a spiritual level. Whatever can be seen with our eyes, whatever has a physical form, cannot be truly loved. There can be only be attachment to it.
Love is the language of religion. Love is the language of truth.
A cunning person always tries to appropriate and change the language (of religion) to his or her own selfish advantage. People who follow their brain and emotions, and not their heart, we may call them “intellectuals”, are cunning and deceitful and have always been so. Once they tamper with language, words get a false meaning, and therefore leading to false knowledge and understandings.
One can never love something that can be seen with our eyes. The relationship of true love is unbreakable. It is everlasting. A relationship that can break is based on attachment.
We love our own self and the body in the first place. Loving someone else is secondary. In a life and death situation, we tend to save ourselves, regardless of who else is in the same situation. But where there is true love, there is sacrifice. We save the person we love. This is true love.
The warriors of the tenth master Gur Gobind Singh defended themselves in the Battle of Bhangani against the attack of the kings of the Shivalik Hills in 1686 near Paonta Sahib. In the battle, the soldier Hayat Khan challenged Gur Gobind Singh to fight with him. Kirpal Das, who was with the tenth master, did not hesitate to come forward to defend Gur Gobind Singh. He was a true lover. He was a true Sadhu, a religious person with a pure heart.
Love is the merging of two souls, not bodies. Two bodies are separated at latest when one body dies. However, the union of souls cannot even be broken by physical death. This is true love. Every else is attachment. In this sense, it was love that inspired the Sadhu Kirpal Das to defend Gur Gobind Singh. Even though he had no real knowledge of weapons and experience in the battlefield, and despite the fact that the opponents were well trained soldiers with all sorts of weapons, Kirpal Das was prepared to sacrifice himself. This was possible because he truly loved the truth and justice that was spread by Gur Gobind Singh. Pure love gave him power and courage.
“Preet” and “Prem” – love – are the same thing. Love is not about external and materialistic things such as bodies, our children’s physical form, emotions, cars and properties. Instead, love is about listening to the inner divine voice of purity and righteousness within each being.
The relationship between milk and water can help us to understand what true love is. Water alone usually has not a high value. But when water is mixed with milk, its worth instantly increases. It is no longer considered as water. Instead, it is regarded as milk. Now, when we heat this milk, and it comes to the boiling point, the water evaporates first. It protects the milk so to speak. The water saves the milk because there is love for the qualities of the milk. The water sacrifices itself because it realizes that the milk has increased its own value. Nothing of this happens in the case of emotional attachment or in the case of fake love that dominates the world today.
So-called “love” marriages often end in divorce. It happens daily. This love is fake. A spiritual person understands the big difference between love (Prem) and emotional attachment (Moh).
Talk of Dharam Singh Nihang Singh at Muslim-Sikh-Hindu interfaith event in Malerkotla, India, which was attended by around 3000 people
I would like to kindly invite Dharam Singh Nihang Singh ji to speak. We truly respect this wise elder of ours. We are privileged to learn from his knowledge and wisdom. Brothers, I want us all to give a warm memorable welcome from all people at this historic event in Malerkotla.
Shezad Hussein, Moderator of the Muslim-Sikh-Hindu interfaith event in Malerkotla, India, 21. April 2018
My dear brothers from Panjab, Bharat!
It is unfortunate for religion that there are various versions of religion in the world. Religion is actually all about Oneness. When religion is centered around oneness, love, peace, truth and justice flourish in the world. By now, it is well known what happens when people get divided in factions in the very name of religion. Cults, sects, denominations, and other groupism have arisen and lead to quarrels and even hate among those, who follow the foolish game of divisions. When this happens, religion ceases to be religion. It becomes fake a religion.
Religion is the pursuit of the One Supreme Source and truth of all. The pursuit of truth requires honesty, sacrifice and selflessness. When religion gets corrupted by selfishness, it ceases to remain religion. Egoism is the reason behind all divisions – also in the name of religion.
Divisions and groupism weaken and rule us. This is a very common phenomenon in the religions of today. When a religion lacks knowledge of truth, fear of getting exposed will ultimately arise among its followers. Such a fake religion gets weaker and weaker. Those people representing it, fear to lose their authority, status and privileges. Hence they create lies to protect their malicious traditions, thus creating more confusion, divisions and hatred.
Muslim leaders talk about the rights of Muslims, Sikh leaders talk about the rights of Sikhs, Hindu leaders fight for the rights of Hindus and so on. This is not the path of righteousness. This is even dangerous. The outcomes of this communalism are neither beneficial for religious people nor for politicians. We are all witnesses of the outcomes of this. They are painful for everyone, and we all endure it daily.
Our own will and selfishness cause these troubles. If we understand and accept the Divine Wisdom and Will of the Lord, of Allah, of Ram, we will overcome our egoistic self and may find lasting comfort and peace within ourselves. The decision is with us. We can choose between egoism and altruism. Each of us, at all times.
We have two voices in us. One voice is the one of the divine soul. And the other one is the clever voice of our own self, also called mind, Satan or Sheitan. Once the inner pure voice of our soul starts ruling over the voice of the mind, we have begun walking on the religious path of righteousness. When we allow our divine voice, which is directly connected to the Divine Will, to continuously fight against the voice of the mind, we eventually overcome all forms of egoism and identification. This is the greatest sacrifice to the truth. This is a real sacrifice. Those who have made such sacrifices, are eligible to be called religious.
We all call ourselves religious. Yet, we get angry, when we must justify ourselves. We even start arguing and fighting, when someone points out that our deeds are irreligious. The truth is: we are not religious. We just think we are religious. A truly religious person does not start a dispute with anyone. Never.
If those who claim to be religious fight and create disputes, then who will resolve the violence and other problems we face in this world? Selfish people can never solve a problem or dispute in a sustainable manner. They behave like little kids who fight over things. They behave like youngsters with a lot of testosterone. Elder ones on the contrary, put an end to disputes.
In religion, being an elder, is not determined by the age of the physical body. Instead, it is the wisdom that is considered. The one which is full of wisdom, full of truth, full of unity, is eligible to be called an elder. There are numerous examples well known to us of wise ones whose body was young. There is Dhruv, Prahlad, and the eight master Gur Har Krishan. They exemplified what it means to be religious. They were full of wisdom and revealed the truth at very early age. Such wise ones will come throughout the course of times.
We, the people of world, are well aware about what so-called religions and religious people have given to the world. We all have first-hand experience. We know what politicians have done allying with supposedly religious people. We all know what so-called religious people do, once they come in power.
I do not stand here to offend anyone. But it is my duty to remind us of the valuable lessons we have to learn from the past. We all must be aware of preachers, politicians and all others that divide us and cheat with us in the name of religion.
The most powerful force in the world is the truth. There is no force equal to the truth. More and more are becoming lovers of the truth. They are spread over the world. However, they need to unit. The selfish ones are still dominating. They are misleading and eventually hurting people. They are profiting from those who blindly follow them. These selfish people who claim to be altruistic and religious, they join hands with each other only temporarily. They are never truly united. They keep quarreling within their group and with others. Sooner or later, their coalition collapses. This happens to all, who are not united within their hearts.
We the people, need to unite. Uniting Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and others here in Panjab and India, is not enough. All religious people, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and all other religions must unite all over the world, if we want to save the world from total destruction. World wars cannot be prevented, if politicians do not stand in for truth and justice. If the egoistic trend of grabbing power by hook or crook continues, wars all over the world are going to become a certainty in the future. I have repeatedly talked about this in past. I said it at the conference on religion and the UN 2030 Agenda in Germany a few years ago.
It is acknowledged by all religions of the world that we need to stand in for truth and justice. Unless we unite as one people under the guidance of truth and justice, we are not going to achieve lasting peace. We need to silence those corrupt politicians and so-called preachers, who spread hatred and division among the children of God. They will never stop willingly. We the people, must continue to unite in such gatherings and in town halls all over the world.
All followers of religion, regardless of your background, let us come together, and unite against the divisive forces of selfish ignorance.
I am very thankful to these young men, who have put so much energy into organizing this event, and for having me here today. I always felt that it is my responsibility in this world to bring us all together and have this kind of dialogue. But these young men did the job. They did all the hard work and I feel fortunate to have joined you at this historic gathering today. We need more dialogues like this all over the world among people of all religious backgrounds.
Once the train gets back on the track, it starts moving smoothly.
I am deeply thankful to you all.
Let us all be reminded. It is important that the unity we showed today, is honest and heartfelt. This honesty is only possible, if we consciously decide to overcome our selfishness. This inter-religious event today is a historic and unique event. People from all religions came together, and united against the divisive forces.
The message to the world is loud and clear: We are not divided, we are one!
Wahe Guru Ji Ka Khalsa – Wahe Guru Ji Ki Fateh!
The Pure Ones – Khalsa – belong to the Wonderful Enlightener – The victory over our egos belongs to the Wonderful Enlightener!
More than 3000 man and women attended the Muslim-Sikh-Hindu dialogue event “What if we do not even wake up now?” in Malerkotla in Panjab on 21. April 2018. Key talks were held by Muslim scholar Kamal Ali Khan, and Dharam Singh Nihang Singh, the founder of Sach Khoj Academy. Both speakers stressed the need to overcome frictions and to collaborate more closely in order to strengthen peace and justice.
Following the motto of the UN 2030 Agenda “Leaving no one behind”, the Sach Khoj Academy joined hands with the organisers of the Muslim-Sikh Front and attended the interfaith event “What if we do not even wake up now?” (Agar Ab Vi Na Jage To?). The event brings together speakers from various religious backgrounds and aims at spreading a message of unity and harmony.
Muslim scholar and social activist Kamal Ali Khan quoted not only the Quran but also Gurbani in his emotional speech. He highlighted that the message of unity and peace is at the heart of religion. We may call the One and Only Allah, Wahe Guru, Ram or God. But we are referring to the same Almighty One who governs the Universe (Sahib Mera Eko Hai). Kamal Ali Khan further said that truthful Muslims are citizens who are loyal to the nation they live in. That is why Muslims love to live in India. At the same time Muslims wish to receive more love from their fellow citizens. He warned that those who raise slogans against Muslims, and create resentments against religious minorities, play a dangerous game since it creates divisions and hatred.
Dharam Singh Nihang Singh emphasised that according to Gurmat – timesless spiritual wisdom, which is preserved in Gurbani – there is only one truthful religion (Sach Dharam). It may be called by different names. But it is those religion which is the religion of Allah, God, Ram or Parmeshar. It is that religion which spreads love, unity and virtues. It is that religion which helps overcoming man-made boundaries, and provides convincing and non-contradictory answers to all spiritual questions in life.
Dharam Singh Nihang Singh stressed that it is a sign of religious unawareness when we talk about “our community”, “our rights”, and “our religion”, since religion is all about creating Oneness and transforming the “I” into the “You”. He stated that egoism and ignorance has created communalism, nationalism and other forms of group-isms in the very name of religion and spoiled the actual mission of Oneness of all religious scriptures. Dharam Singh Nihang Singh made it a point that it is high time for all those who call themselves religious – Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Buddhists and Christians – to learn from past mistakes, renounce the destructive force of egoism (Savarath) and start walking on the path of altruism (Parmarath) and naturalness. Only then, the challenges we all are facing as humankind could be overcome.
ਬੋਲੀਐ ਸਚੁ ਧਰਮੁ ਝੂਠੁ ਨ ਬੋਲੀਐ ॥
Being truthful and overcoming falsehood, this is the religion of truth (Sach Dharam).
(Adi Granth 488, Sheikh Farid)
Rajvinder Singh Bains, son of renown Sikh justice Ajit Singh Bains, who is a senior advocate at Panjab and Haryana High Court, accompanied Dharam Singh Nihang Singh. He was honored as a chief guest by the organisers. Rajvinder Singh Bains emphasised that a truthful Muslim is as beautiful as a truthful Sikh and Hindu.
Gurmat vichar at Shahidi Samagam Maloya in Panjab by Dharam Singh Nihang Singh, founder of the Sach Khoj Academy: “The four Sahibzade, the sons of the tenth master Gur Gobind Singh, are real heros (Surme). They sacrificed their life for the truth (Sach Dharam), for Sikhi. They could do so because their hearts were filled with the wisdom (Piri) & power (Miri) of Gurbani. Let’s fill ours and rise above desires, common beliefs and intellectualism, and help creating lasting peace and justice. In this way, we can contribute to the UN 2030 Agenda and make sure that no one is left behind.”
The Sach Khoj Academy engages with groups from different religions and backgrounds on issues such as justice, peace, human-rights and inter-religious dialogue.
Following the motto of the UN 2030 Agenda “Leaving no one behind”, the Sach Khoj Academy has been increasingly engaging with groups from different religions and backgrounds who are working on issues such as justice, human rights, peace and inter-religious dialogue.
In June 2016 talks were held on the need of inter-religious dialogue and the UN 2030 Agenda (SDGs) with Muslim representative Syed Farid Ahmed (Mujeddedi) in Fatehgarh Sahib.
In the past months, dialogues were held in Chandigarh with personalities such as Rajvinder Singh Bains (son of renown Sikh justice Ajit Singh Bains), who is a senior advocate working at Panjab and Haryana High Court, Dr. Dharamvir Ghandi, a Hindu politician formerly associated with the Aam Aadami Party (AAP), who is also working on water issues in Panjab, and with social activist Swami Agnivesh. Dialogues were held with professors from various departments including Dr. Ronki Ram from Panjab University, and representatives of the Muslim youth in Malerkotla.
All meetings were marked by mutual respect and willingness to listen to each other. There was consensus that without the wisdom of religion, sustainable solutions to solve the challenges in Panjab and India, cannot be found. Dharam Singh Nihang Singh, founder of the Sach Khoj Academy, highlighted that once we embrace the motto “Only with the wisdom of religion, good governance is possible” (Dharam Bina Nahi Raj Chalai Hai), truthfulness and justice will prevail, and automatically no one will be left behind. The discussions showed that insights inspired by the universal spiritual wisdom of Gurbani like need to be spread in order to strengthen unity and nourish virtues such as altruism and modesty.
Devotee Nanak says, a spiritual one (Gurmukh) embodies all divine virtues and knowledge of our true spiritual self.
Only then, a lasting contribution to overcome discrimination, communalism, man-made boundaries in the name of religion and caste, and the misuse of politics for personal or religious purposes can be made.
