ETERNAL JOY
Joy is an invaluable gift given by God to every human.
It is the true and natural state of the soul. However, humanity has lost and forgot this state by indulging itself in the materialistic world, worldly relations, and sensual pleasures.
It has been seen that humans wander from town to town, country to country, and even from one religious place to other, only to attain that natural, but lost joy.
Now the question is: Do they really obtain what their inner souls yearn for?
Have they stopped wandering in search of that joy now?
The answer is no; they are still restless, hankering for joy.
Why have they not obtained joy yet even though they have made numerous efforts in its search at various places?
This question has been answered by the Great Saint Shri Kabir Sahib Ji states that when an object is somewhere, and if a search for it is made elsewhere, how can it be retrieved?
It can only be found when you take into confidence one who has the complete knowledge of its location.
The chances of recovery become much more remote if the search is made in the wrong direction. For example, a man loses a needle inside the house and searches for it outside because there is darkness in the house and plenty of sunlight outside.
What a great misjudgment! The above example illustrates that humans search for eternal joy in the wrong places. How can they obtain it from a place where it does not exist?
Now, the question is: Who can have complete practical knowledge about the way of obtaining eternal joy?
It has been revealed by the Great Saint Shri Kabir Sahib Ji :
It is impossible to gain knowledge without the Spiritual Master. One cannot free oneself from the bondages of the illusive world without the guidance of the Spiritual Master. The Holy Master alone can reveal the secret of the truth and falsehood.No one except the True Master can erase our sins.
Every human desires to be happy and blissful forever. They never want any sorrow to touch them; their longing is only for the eternal joy. However, how can one obtain peace and joy by forgetting the Sacred Name of the Lord! Their wish to attain joy will be fulfilled only when they will embed the Name of the Lord in their hearts.
The Sacred name is flowing continuously in every human.
It is clear from the above holy teaching that eternal joy lies in the Sacred Name of the Lord. This Sacred name is flowing continuously in every human, but are they aware of that?
No, they cannot realize it because to realize it, they will have to turn their consciousness and hearts towards their inner selves. It is dark inside and they cannot find anything; therefore they are searching in the outer world. Who can redirect their consciousness towards the Sacred Name which is flowing continuously in their own breaths? It is the Spiritual Master alone who can do this.
The Divine One Shri Guru Amardas Ji Maharaj enlightens us through His holy words:
Within every soul, there is ambrosial nectar in the form of the Sacred Name of the Lord, but the self-willed people do not get to taste it. As a deer does not recognize musk-scent in its own navel and wanders around deluded by doubt, in the same way, self-willed people forsake the ambrosial nectar, and instead gather poison; the Creator Himself has fooled them as per their previous deeds. How rare are the devotees who obtain this understanding! The Divine Master shows them the Almighty God within themselves.