Why Man is in Distress - By: Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj

Published in Times of India article:

His Holiness Article published in Times of India on Why Man is in Distress
Divine masters never opposed material progress. They, however, did say that increased possession of worldly materials might bring suffering if it were not accompanied by spiritual enlightenment, says Nirankari Baba Hardev Singh Ji Maharaj.

Man today has made tremendous progress. He has acquired vast material resources, powerful appliances and instruments. There is no dearth of goods that make life comfortable. Even luxuries are available in abundance. But even then we find man in distress. He does not find his life and property safe or secure. Violence may erupt anywhere anytime. Hence, fear keeps him deprived of the peace within. Tension tends to prevail all the time due to one reason or the other.

Who is responsible for this state of affairs? The answer is : 'Man himself'. Along with numerous achievements in the field of science and technology, he has made all kinds of weapons also. We have bombs that can create havoc on the earth and in the air. And human mind is so unpredictable that it may trigger any weapon any time anywhere quoting any reason. Obviously that is what is keeping man under constant fear and tension.

Why weapons alone? Humanity is sought to be split by man through all kinds of boundaries and walls erected in the name of caste, creed and colour, language, religion and culture. He is shut out from the reality of the world outside. He is cut off from the rest of the world and finds himself in utter bewilderment. As you know criminals are kept in closed cells. Behind the bars, they are cut off from the world. Each and every moment of their life, therefore, passes like hell. Man has also created this hell for himself. He thinks everything for himself, for the fulfillment of his own interests. The result is conflict between man and man, distance from each other, pain and suffering.

All that is created by God is meant for all. But man divides even natural resources when they come under his control. We find water being divided. There have been disputes over the distribution of water resulting in bloodshed. Had man been able to control the air, he would not have allowed the wind to blow from one country into another. The same would have been the case with sunshine.

Guided by selfish motives, man takes such steps that saints describe him as an animal: Kartoot Pashu Ki, Manush Jat. His actions are that of animals while by appearance he looks to be a human being. We lock our houses and shops. In other countries, people go in for alarm system. Why?

Do we take these steps to guard our lives and properties from animals? No, we need them against man. He appears to be man whereas he is not. His actions are guided by animal instincts. We find how one animal pounces upon the other to snatch a piece of meat. The same is the condition of man, it appears.

The farmer puts manure in order to make the land fertile and the crop healthy. But what happens is that along with the crop there is lot of unintended and superfluous growth of grass, etc. A wise farmer removes this unwanted growth before pouring any more fertilizer into the land, because he knows that otherwise it will be consumed by the wild growth and the actual crop will starve correspondingly. This is exactly what is happening in human world. Along with the material progress are growing the unwanted feelings of jealousy and narrow-mindedness. The vices like passion, anger, greed, attachment and ego tend to destroy the peace of mind for himself as well as others. Unless these negative factors are weeded out, human energies will get wasted in bad deeds, producing nothing but destruction.

God has blessed man with body with physical strength and intellect to be used for good purposes. In fact these qualities have been given by God to every human being. Then where does this difference come from? Everybody knows that fire is quite useful to us in many ways. We use it in the kitchen and cook all types of food. It is used in industrial units also. But it will be an utter misuse of fire if it is applied to burn the houses of others, burn the people themselves. Like this, all human energies and virtues stand misused, when we utilize these gifts of God to harm others. No object or power is bad by itself, bad is its misuse.

Not that man is facing such a horrible situation only because of those who run after material world. Those who claim to be above Maya (worldly objects) and boast of their being religious, too are in no way better. Almost every day we read in the newspapers reports about the bloodshed of innocent people committed in the name of religion and spiritual masters. No religion, no spiritual master, no holy person does preach or endorse such killings. Even then there is bloodshed in the name of religion. People quarrel over the very name of God. A man who describes the Almighty as Ram is found to be ready to fight with the other who calls it Allah. Why do they fight when Ram and Allah are one and the same? This is so because we have not allowed the divine light to enter our minds, enter our lives. Since we are away from God, worldly improvements too lead to destruction. The reason for disputes in the name of religion is, of course, ignorance.

The Spiritual masters teach us that man must stumble or fumble at some place or the other, if he forgets this God - Nirankar and attaches importance to material wealth only. Take for instance a building. We all know that houses are meant for men. If we start thinking the other way round, give priority to houses or consider that men are meant for houses, it will be our mistake. Shoes are meant for the feet; not that the feet are meant for shoes. This is a question of attaching importance, giving priority. We must give top priority to God, to know it, to realize it.

Divine masters never opposed material progress. They, however, did say that increased possession of worldly materials might bring suffering if it were not accompanied by spiritual enlightenment. If God enters one's life, the feelings of hatred, jealousy and pride disappear and then all the material progress of the world becomes a source of joy. Once the distance between man and God goes, the distance between man and man goes too. Nobody appears to be an enemy, nobody remains an alien. There are no conflicts, no tension, no distress