Living with Joy

Living with joy means to live in the consciousness of our true being and not in the orbit of the mind. When we live in the orbit of the mind we are engulfed by emotions and agitating thoughts that prevent us from experiencing joy, whereas to live with joy is to live in the remembrance of our Master. It is to be saturated with our simran, which literally means remembering.

Simran is a wonderful and powerful mechanism – it is the repetition of the words given to us at the time of initiation to help us remember our Master. In Philosophy of the Masters, Vol. I, the Great Master discusses this practice:

What is simran? In order to understand it properly, one has to pay attention to its true significance. The word ‘simran’ is derived from the Sanskrit root smar. It has several meanings: To protect, to make a mental picture of one’s deity in the heart, and to contemplate on this form, to remember a certain person or thing to such an extent as to think about it with every breath, to make it a part and parcel of one’s life, and ultimately to awaken into and to live in it. … Simran bestows happiness, peace and bliss, and leads us to a state of super-consciousness.

Therefore our simran, when correctly practised, can create joy in our lives. We experience joy when we are at peace and our mind is at rest. Through the practice of simran, we are able to change our thinking and stop our agitating and unnerving emotions, thereby creating inner peace. However, for simran to bring pure joy into our lives we have to be totally immersed in it. We cannot simply ‘dip in here and dip in there’ – it doesn’t work that way. Our simran should constantly reverberate in us – day in and day out, moment to moment. We may not enjoy doing simran at first, but in time we will get joy from it.

Not only are we the result today of past thoughts and actions, but we are currently creating what we will be in the future. What are we going to harvest from our present actions and thoughts? The way to determine this is through the practice of simran – by changing thoughts of the world into thoughts of the Master. It is simran that takes us to and opens the tenth door where we meet the Master’s Radiant Form. This meeting will signify real joy because thereafter we will always be aware of our Master’s presence.

Simran is the real way to be in touch with our Master. We may doubt the power of simran and how our repetition protects us and draws us closer to the Master, but we should never underestimate it. In her book In Search of the Way, Flora Wood writes:

Simran can also be of assistance to steady the mind and as a means of spiritual protection at any moment of danger or stress, for it has all the power of the Master behind it.

Every Sant Mat book we have tells us of the joy and delight we can experience through the practice of simran and bhajan. If we are not experiencing the joy we are probably not practising correctly. When we do it correctly we will want to do it, and when we want to do it, we will do it correctly. We should guard against being casual about simran. It should receive our highest priority because it enriches every aspect of our lives. Simran is not a penance, it is an opportunity, and when practised properly we can benefit from it.

We have been given a ticket for the flight to Sach Khand. Simran is the taxi fare to get us to the airport to catch the flight – if we don’t use it we won’t get to the airport to board the plane.

But how mindful are we of what we are trying to achieve when we do our simran? Do we simply rattle off the words mechanically or are we conscious of the tremendous power that has been entrusted to us in the form of our simran? Are we attentive to our simran or are we just repeating it automatically while our mind runs wild – regurgitating the emotions and distorted thinking that fill much of our day?

In In Search of the Way the author gives us this valuable insight into the practice of simran:

At first simran could seem meaningless, but gradually, if we were to do it every day – at any and every time whilst doing our work or resting, whilst on journeys, the housewife in her kitchen or the man of the house doing his work – it would become automatic, running on subconsciously and then coming to the surface consciousness when we had a free mind again. We would then think: “Why am I saying these words? Oh! they are connected with the Master,” and we would be drawn in thought towards Sant Mat.

Simran is a divine opportunity, a gift to inspire us, for it is our simran that leads us into the divine rhythm of the Shabd. In the book Tukaram: – The Ceaseless Song of Devotion the poet tells us:

My Master has blessed me
And now I live in the rhythm
Of the divine Melody.

We should never fall into the mind trap of regarding simran as a chore. If we do then we seriously need to re-think our thinking. By obsessively worrying about not being able to meditate or do simran, we buy into habitually thinking of failure – a joyless process. When we appreciate the privilege we have been given to be able to do simran, it makes it virtually impossible to feel negative about it. Instead of viewing simran as a chore we notice all the things we enjoy about it. When our attitude is positive our perspective is heightened and we focus less on the irritations and annoyances the mind throws at us, and more on the aspects of simran that are delightful and pleasant. Our simran – when done correctly – should resonate with a joy that is truly infectious. It sings to our soul, bringing peace and joy.

Maharaj Jagat Singh says of the practice of simran:

This method is natural, though very slow. It requires years of practice to make the mind motionless. … Therefore, the time spent on repetition should never be considered wasted. … Again, I shall urge upon you to work hard on your simran and not to expect results in a hurry. Slow and steady wins the race.
_{The Science of the Soul}

Simran is the vehicle that takes us to the eye focus. It is a slow process of unfolding awareness. In your simran, know the pace at which to go. In Living Meditation we are told:

To be successful in this practice, the repetition of the words should be done at a comfortable pace: not so fast that we get anxious, nor so slow that we fill the gaps in between the words with thoughts.

When we realize that the practice of simran has the power to change our lives, we will become aware of its magic. This magic brings wonder and joy into our lives. This is the feeling we want to carry into our meditation – of being alive, aware and interested in what we are doing.

Initiation gives us direction and the opportunity to find inner peace, and to live joyfully. Whatever we achieve by the time we die will be from the effort we have put into our meditation. We should be clear about our intent and be careful not to unnecessarily dissipate our energy on external affairs. To prevent this the Masters recommend that we repeat the words inwardly during the day whenever the attention is free.

This bright thread of simran is like a beautiful necklace strung across our day, not only bringing joy into our lives, but also as our way of connecting with our Master. Through this we become aware of his constant presence; and we will come to know, without a doubt, that he has always been with us and is always with us. This is the reward of constant simran. By participating in our spirituality and by harnessing the power of simran we have the ability to make our meditation an exhilarating experience. Rumi puts it like this: “You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”

The magic of simran has been entrusted to us, and it resonates in each one of us when we do it with loving and focused attention. What an incredible treasure has been placed in our custody! Simran is a precious gift – let’s use it!

Love and unswerving faith in the Master play a vital role in the success of simran. In fact, the results of the repetition of the names will be in direct proportion to the love and faith brought to bear upon it. Names of the Lord have a great power. When the repetition is done with faith, one feels intoxicated with joy, to the extent that he forgets his body and feels only the presence of the Master.
_{The Dawn of Light}