Chapter 9

This is a chapter summary of Bhai Sewa Singh Tarmala’s book Pantha Prem Na Janaiye. This chapter was about Devlok, where the angels reside.  

Gurbani tell us that we came from one of the following past lives: life in the sky (ex. birds), life on land, life in the ocean/underground, and angels. Those who have more rajoguni thoughts in their life end up in bhoom lok (land), those who have more satoguni thoughts end up in the sky (akash lok), those who have more tamoguni thoughts end up in the ocean (patal lok). Those who previously were humans and reached the step of being able to hear Anhad Bani but have not yet merged into Waheguru become angels. They have not yet completed their journey. There are 330 million angels that look down upon us, and they describe that some come down into human form and some go up into angel form. Bhai Sahib describes that they cheer us on as we go to Sunn and do our meditation, and this inspires a longing in them for a human life because this is the only lifeform from which we can merge into Waheguru. Yet when we arrive here in this world, all is forgotten, we do not remember what we were in our past life. We get lost into maya. The mind has to be able to hear Anhad Bani, then awaken and use its jot, then merge into the Divine. Bhai Sahib describes the angels that become reborn as humans “They have an inborn anxiety to join the congregation. If they fail to meet the true congregation, they continue to search. They may read Gurbani or Holy scriptures, but cannot fully understand their meaning. These individuals are never satisfied until they reach the Divine Word, known as Naam. When they reach the true congregation, where contemplation and appreciation of Naam is conducted, they gradually attain the stage from which they have come. They do not have to work very hard to get to this stage.” For some people, once they start up their progress in increasing their spiritual avastha is thus very fast because they had reached that before. They came here to complete their journey and as they are reminded of that, they head towards their destination with a passion. 

 

For people who come from bhoom lok, akash lok or patal lok, Bhai Sahib describes that they are reluctant to read Gurbani, join sangat, etc. Those who are from akash lok will read Gurbani, and do satoguni actions like being compassionate, but they cannot progress until they move forth and jap. Regardless of the lok that we came from, we will have the opportunity in this lifetime, all of us do, to be able to merge into Waheguru. We are also needing to remember that we can all fall at any time by letting go of our path and getting trapped by our ego, so we can’t have pride over our path or progress. 

 

Bhai Sahib describes that the mind here can be like a “goblin”, a human, an angel, or a Gurmukh (already merged).  Unfortunately, most of our minds are used to being in a cycle of unhappiness and are cynical. Gurbani calls this “sakhat”, which is translated as faithless cynic. There is no interest in this path, even if one hears about the way to reach Sunn and get peace. People then become physically ill from their mind not having it’s food (amrit). The state of the mind is described that while it is controlled by kaal/maya, our hands are in shackles, our neck is in a noose, and we are hungry. It is described how then the mind and body become ill after this. Bhai Sahib describes that people in this state are easily angry, and misinterpret conversations, they are not following the path of love. When we receive our mind’s food, and break our shackles, we are free. Bhai Sahib describes that in this state, we can leave our thoughts “in the blink of an eye.” This is important, because if conflict is arising from other people, or thoughts are mismatched, then we can break that quickly by going to our home in Sunn. 

My favorite passage from this section: "What is the insignia of the angels dwelling? The unstruck sound current of the Shabad vibrates there" (Ang 974). 

This chapter was really enlightening. I last read this book five years ago when I was starting this path and it has a lot more meaning this time around as I have spent time reflecting on my own state.