In His image
A tranquil, contemplative evening brings Gurjas Chahal the peace inherent in wishing well for one’s fellow humans (even the nasty ones) and being one with them in spirit
Sitting by the calm lakeside one evening, enjoying and contemplating the beauty God has showered everywhere, I remembered a noble soul who passed away last year, a person highly advanced in spirituality. Shri Rabindra Kumar Bhuiyan was his name. He was my neighbour, a selfless server of greenery near the lake, and a good human being. We used to meet every day during our morning walk.
He would come to the lakeside every evening and watch the setting sun in complete silence. I remembered the thoughts he used to share about his prayers. In his mind, he would pray for everyone’s happiness—a simple and sweet prayer. He wished happiness for all living beings.
I could never bring myself to pray for everyone’s happiness then. I had difficulty in wishing happiness for people who were nasty to me or had played politics with me. However, that evening, when the noble soul was far away in the world of no return, the anguish of separation made me experiment. For a moment, I thought how it would be to wish happiness even for my enemies!
The subtle fibre of thought kindled a sudden spark of light inside me. For a moment, I wished happiness for everyone, including those for whom I had always prayed for karma to catch up with and punish. For a moment, I visualised them smiling with happiness. I must admit, it was a great feeling. I felt as if a rock had been lifted off my shoulders, leaving my being joyous and playful.
For coming to the state of experimenting with an idea, credit must go to Adolf Just. He has shared some wonderful prose on how to be happy in his book Return To Nature: “Man is originally the image of God, the highest essence of love. . . . One need no longer hope to find salvation in a scientific school education, but in the undisturbed health of body and soul resulting from a natural mode of life, and the love of God and his fellow men.”
What I comprehend from these words is that happiness will come automatically when we understand that it has a very simple formula, which is to keep our body as close to nature as possible foodwise by consuming fruits, nuts, and milk only.
Next comes making the mind happy, and that happens when we truly comprehend that God has created man in His image. I used to find this concept difficult to understand. Then one fine day, in a wonderful book on spirituality by Bhai Guriqbal Singh, I came across a small para, reading which the import of the concept simply flowed into my head. The author explained it thus: Just as while tying a turban he saw in the mirror how he was looking, the Formless One, on attaining a human form, looked in the mirror to see how He was looking. That is, human beings are nothing but God in form. And, when all of us are created in the image of God, we are all one. It will be only natural and the most obvious thing to wish happiness for each other.
I realised how deep the knowledge of my guru was and felt, once again, in awe of him.