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Meeting the beloved against all odds

fareedhaa galeeeae chikarr dhoor ghar naal piaarae naehu ||
chalaa th bhijai ka(n)balee rehaa(n) th thuttai naehu ||24||
bhijo sijo ka(n)balee aleh varaso maehu ||
jaae milaa thinaa sajanaa thutto naahee naehu ||25||

Fareed, the path is muddy, and the house of my Beloved is so far away.
If I go out, my blanket will get soaked, but if I remain at home, then my heart will be broken. ||24||
My blanket is soaked, drenched with the downpour of the Lord's Rain.
I am going out to meet my Friend, so that my heart will not be broken. ||25||

Bhai Sahib was reciting this shabad when I entered the Darbar this weekend. Freed Ji’s shabads have always touched my heart. Once I began to read on Freed Ji’s life and could not continue as after each line my eyes welled up with tears.

I always thought that the ‘muddy path’ that Freed ji is referring to is the ‘Maya’ in the world, that keeps us from remembering God; but it is much deeper than that. It is the mud in our ears to listen to our own praise and Ninda of others. It is the mud in our eyes to admire beauty of other’s spouse. It is the mud of greed, lust and ego in our minds/hearts. It is the mud of ‘AnRas’ in our toungue. Freed Ji says that this muddy paath becomes even more powerful if I try to fight it just like a man caught up in Daldal, when he tries to get out, goes under it more. So what should one do then? How do one reaches the beloved Lord? Then Freed Ji answers to the question in his next verse; the only way to clear the path and rising above the five chor is do uddam. Uddam of remembering Him who is always Ang Sang; who is creator of ‘muddy path’ He, himself removes that mud from the indriyaan and frees one to meet with the Lord.

Bhai Sahib further explained on the ‘Uddam’. Uddam to wake up in Amrit Vela, Uddam to come in the Saadh Sangat, uddam to recite and sing Gurbani. These are all ‘Karam’ we all do with the hope and desire to meet with the Lord and these Karam give birth to ‘Dharam’. Dharam is what helps us on the journey of spirituality & hence seeking God.

Comments

Harkiran Kaur said…
I do enjoy listening to Baba fareedji bani too! One of my favorite shabad is -- fareeda turya turyaa jaa, tu sothaa rab jaagda, teri daadde naal pareeet!

;-p
10:09 AM
Jaswinder Singh said…
VEry Nice!

Kabir sahib says,

kabeer maeraa mujh mehi kishh nehee jo kishh hai so thaeraa ||
Kabeer, nothing is mine within myself. Whatever there is, is Yours, O Lord.

Thanks for sharing!
3:05 PM
Singhni said…
Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa Waheguru ji ki Fateh!

Thank you Harkiran and Jas for taking the time to read and share your thoughts!
3:22 PM
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