May 20, 1997 – Why does everyone come to Maharaj ji?

                Since I have been living here I have seen leaders from all political parties come to Maharaj ji, such as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Akali Party leader Surjit Singh Barnala, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Vir Bahadur, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, RSS leader Abhinash Jaswal, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. Earlier, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used to come to Maharaj ji. I asked him why. He replied simply,

They all come and grow in faith. They come in self-interest but then begin doing worship and reading scripture.

  And when we went with Maharaj ji to the great shrine Dewa Sharif and the Sufi Kalandar shrine in Ujjain, the Muslims there loved him so much. As Maharaj ji is a Sikh from a worldly point of view, I asked him, “Why do those Muslims love you so?” He answered,

Because we love Allah. We love their Guru. They love that Power whom they feel inside him.

If people leave their own thoughts and take God’s, all conflicts will end. It’s people’s ideas that are clashing. We should take those heavenly ideas in which there is great enjoyment, wonderful taste. Those are everlasting words, not temporary as ours are.

We must repeat that dharma is never new. People forget and must be reminded. That is why prophets come to say that Truth and Love are great things, but those were there before.

God never ends. God was there before the Creation was even created. Our prophets and messiahs came, and God was manifest in them to teach us enlightenment, to give us light. But it is not that God or dharma came only then. God is from beginningless time. People forget. When prophets come, they clear our old feeling of God inside.

Why then are people divided? Because people have spoken from their own thoughts. If you say what the prophets and gurus have said, read the scriptures, you won’t see anything different between them. But people have developed their own ideas.

Gobind Sadan is not a place of distinctions between high and low, between different castes. As Guru Nanak said, “There is one Father, and we are all His children.” Who is this Father? The Creator of all Creation. Jesus also spoke of the Father. If our Father is one, how can we be different? Then we are all one.

Guru Gobind Singh said that puja and namaz are the same. Wherever worship goes on, it is worship of God. Only the methods and prayers are somewhat different. Look at everything: no prophet, truth, spirit of service, or love are different. God is one, merciful, without enmity or fear.

Why do all people come here? There is no word here against God, against any religion, against any culture by which God’s environment is disturbed. Rather, there is that by which people’s environments, minds, and houses become clear.

All who come here feel that they have come to their own home. We honour all prophets, all deities, and God’s word is read 24 hours a day here.

We emphasize spreading peace of mind, developing love for society, justice, and love, so politicians, religious leaders, and gentry come. Whether those who come are ministers, officers, or small farmers, our relationship is the same. The feeling of God’s presence grows inside them, because we emphasize that God is sitting in everything. His Light is in all. Love Him.

There is nothing surprising in this.  In God’s house, there is no high or low, no caste distinction.

In the world, no one is a believer or an atheist. The atheist is one who hasn’t seen God. Coming to God’s house, they haven’t meditated, but my feeling is that they haven’t yet studied. It’s just a matter of speech. Some say, “I don’t believe in God.” I think they may be afraid of God or of their own mistakes. They may be afraid of God’s Power, in which there is fire. But they are also believers. We tell them that God is not fearsome, God is not angry.

Some come here saying, “I believe in the Messiah,” or “in the Guru,” or “in the development of the country,” or “in peace,” but there is no difference. There is no one who doesn’t believe in something. All believe in some kind of leader above them. It is not that they are all equal; some leaders give enlightenment, some give water. No country is without belief in some authority. Some believe in people; some believe in prophets. So far no one has come who doesn’t believe in someone higher than him. Even among atheists, there is bowing to a chief.

 It is just a matter of different methods. Some say, “I worship the Messiah,” some the prophet, some the ruler. These are different methods, but all people definitely worship someone, make someone their chief. Even in the king’s court, people believe in someone higher than them, and garland them.

Politicians worship Gandhi. Russians salute Lenin even now because they believed in him as a great person. We do the same at gurdwaras. Some are sitting in villages, some in farms, some in universities, but people are told to admire the virtues of Guru Nanak.

Religions are one, not two. People’s ideas change but dharma does not. People create thousands of disciplines and organizations even though they all believe in Jesus. Why? Because people are allergic to each other. They believe that what they do is right, and others wrong.

If you believe in Guru Gobind Singh or Jesus, why do you think you are separate parties? If they come, human personalities end: There are just Jesus, Moses, Muhammad. If a person makes a party, he wants people to concentrate on him, not on Jesus.

Why are people separate? All religions say that one should be under the Guru’s hukam. But personalities assert themselves. There are 21,000 different Christian organizations, all believing in Jesus. This happens in all religions because people want to advance their own identities instead of pointing to God. Look at how many organizations there are in every religion. What difference does it make if you disagree? Each says, “I speak truth and you don’t.” But the thing to agree on is that the prophets spoke truth and we should practice it. The difference is not a matter of Gurus but of people’s personalities.

All we need to be told is, “Come together.” It will take a little time. Wait a bit. Go along easily. If you want that the Guru should be loved, why fear? Have faith and love. But people want to promote their own existence.

We give Jaap Sahib to everyone. It is God’s word. It’s not my matter. God will bless those who read it. You may open your hands or close them in prayer, but the thing is the same—to respect God.

Our subject is that dharma is within everyone. Our work is to connect them with that. The connection with a political party may be in your heart, but not in ours. We want to join people with that Power which will never disappoint them, and Who will never despair.