BABA BULLEH SHAH

 Baba Bulleh Shah’s popularity can be traced back to 18^th century. He is seen as one of the greatest Sufi Saints in Punjab. His popularity is now on a rise especially; among youngsters both in India and Pakistan. He gained popularity among all communities due to his secular approach towards life. His unconditional love and firm devotion to God and his Master inspires us even today......

I have always been inspired by the secular saints. Likes of Baba Bulleh Shah, Saint Kabir, Guru Nanak Devji, Gandhiji have always been my favorite people throughout the history. Whenever one reads Indian history, one can see that it is full of such glorious people, who can be rightly called as ‘Allah Ke Bande’. These are surely ‘the blessed ones’. They stood firmly by their beliefs. They stood firm even when people around them especially orthodox and fanatic ones opposed and even insulted them. Most of them faced resistance throughout their lives but accepted it gracefully. It seems they never got shaken by anyone’s opinion as they completely trusted themselves and had absoulute faith in humanity. They never gave up on people who couldn’t understand their beliefs. These are the people who stayed by ‘TRUTH’ when people around them got away with cheating and lying. 

The most common strains in their teachings have been Love, Truth and Tolerance, which are the three most difficult yet easiest things in life to practice. If practiced sincerely these three alone can bring all the happiness of the world at our feet. They do create short term obstacles but bring long term Joy and Contentment.

It brings satisfaction to me when I see many youngsters being inspired by such great people and trying to understand as well as follow their teachings. It doesn’t require a great effort to understand these people as all of them were straightforward, truthful and simple in their conduct and teachings. It just requires an open mind on the part of the reader to decipher obvious as well as underlying meanings in their teachings.

Baba Bulleh Shah is the one who lived his life in an exemplary way. He was criticized severely by his contemporaries but he stood up for himself and his convictions. He didn’t bow down under the pressure. Rather he lived boldly, and maintained his love for God and his Master. This is the attitude each one of us aspire to achieve but most of us give up too soon. 

In a diverse country like India only a secular way of life can lead to an inclusive growth and foster universal brotherhood among all, hence providing equal opportunities for growth to all. Whatever fanatics may say or propagate, it is for us to realize that at the end of the day, it is the common man who becomes a victim of the irrational hatred and cynical violence. I hope youngsters of the country will keep getting inspired by secular ways of life and lead this world to a safer, happier and confident future…

 Lately, many songs have been composed on poems written by Baba Bulleh Shah. For example 'Bullah Ki Jana Main Kaun' by 'Rabbi Shergill' and 'Bandeya Ho' from a Pakistani movie 'Khuda ke Liye'. It is interesting to see that in a world where on one hand religious fanaticism is on a rise, many youngsters are adopting a secular approach towards life by reading Sufism.

Here I have translated the song Bandeya Ho which is a great success these days.May God bless everyone....

BANDEYA HO FROM KHUDA KE LIYE –

(A translation from the Book Bulleh Shah from Radha Soami Satsang Beas)

Bullay Nu Samjhawan Ayaa

(To admonish Bullah,)

Bheynaan Tay Bharjaiyaan

(came his sisters and sisters-in-law)
Man Lay Bulleya Sada Kena

(Abide by our advice,)

Chad Day Palla Raaiyan

( And leave the hem of the Arain’s skirt)

Aal Nabi Ullad nabi
Nu Tu Kyun Lee-kaan Laiyaan

(Why have you brought disgrace to the Prophet and to the progeny of Ali?)
Jehra Saanoun Syed Saday
Doz-khu Milay Sazaiyaan

(Let anyone who calls me a Sayyiad,

be punished with tortures of hell)

Bandeya hoo Bandeya
Raayin, Saayin, Sabhin Thaayin

(Arain ,the Lord pervades everyone
Rab Deyaan Bay Parwaaiyaan

(And He is all powerful l)

Sohniyaan Paray Hatayaan Tay

(He casts away the fair ones,)
Khojeyaan Lay Gall Laiyaan

(And clasps to His heart the meritless ones)
Jay To Lorain Baagh Baharaan

(If you seek the pleasures of the spring!)
Chaakar Ho Ja Raiyaan

(Become ye a slave of the Arain)
Bulley Shah Dee Zaat Kee Puchni

(Wherefore do you ask the caste of Bullaah?)
Shakar Ho Razayaan

(Be contended in His will)

Who Am I ?

As holidays are going on, I get enough time to catch up with myself. Today I got inspiration to think about my life at length and surprisingly I discovered many interesting things about myself and life. So the important question I asked myself today was Who Am I ? I thought for some time. I got two possibilities.

1. Am I a person I always wanted to be ,holding onto my values, holding onto my own convictions and beliefs?

2. Or have I become what someone else forced me to become.

So I asked myself what are my values, convictions, inspiration, passions, beliefs?And if bychance they did exist where have they gone??? Well it seems I buried them as I tried hard to become a person someone else wanted me to be.First thing I realized was I am trying hard to become someone who is someone else’s idea of how Meru should be.Speaking clearly I took a U-Turn just so as to be more acceptable to people around me,. People who failed tremendously to acknowledge my uniqueness , my values and my beliefs. So what did I get after all these years? Loosing my self esteem, loosing my confidence, loosing my originality , faking myself to be a sexy girl when I am inherently a tomboy. Only because someone thinks he loves girls in heels I have to wear them when half of the girls of my height carry themselves well by wearing flats, slippers and floaters. And they look so damn cool, only because they are being themselves And I must admit I tried hard to build up myself what others (I shall rather call them outsiders) expected of me. But all gone in vain as surprisingly they still complain about me , backbite me ;taunt at my clothes, my looks ,my hairstyle or why I wear glasses ,why I don’t have a boyfriend etc etc etc .I am so uncool from there prospective. ACCEPTED with full humility.

But as the saying says it all-”Better be a first rate version of yourself ,instead of a second rate version of somebody else “.So I try to disagree here with everyone making interfering in my affairs and judging me.

So going back to question I asked myself today .Who am I? Lately I have been doing my meditations regularly and reading inspirational books. It has given me a chance to have a deep insight into my own feelings and emotions. It is an amazing experience. Words cant possibly express the magic of delving deep into our own precious, special and beloved self. For many of us we get messed up and ruin our lives only because we fail to make that connection with our own self .


We do try very hard to make connections with our peers, family, lover but sadly forget making that connection with our own self. We think by pleasing people around us we can achieve love, bliss or possibly happiness. We die to belong to someone. Be it a friend , a group, a social class, relative. But what we fail to realize is that when we are so caught up in making those connections with outsiders( as I will call them from spiritual prospective ) ,we totally loose that connection with the most special person in our life who is we our own selves. How many people will blatantly disagree with me, that at the end of the day, what we want is self assurance ???? But again unfortunately that self assurance is converted into an assurance from someone outside who will tell us “Dude you looking nice today in that T-Shirt(which should be branded for sure)” or “You have got a sexy girlfriend” .What we forget is, in the above case it was a designer who made a nice T-shirt. It is not because of you that your girlfriend is sexy. She is sexy just because ‘SHE IS’. We fall prey to such compliments and think it is our achievement that we have got all these things. Also sadly in life these compliments are found in rarity and comments or unwanted suggestions are found in abundance. And we fall prey to both unknowingly.

What we don’t realize is that these are just things or stuff.

When we shall die ( Death is an inevitable reality dude) what do you think you will carry with your self to heaven or hell (depending on good deeds as is widely believed in all religions). - A hot girlfriend? Or a vast estate? Or MBA degree from IIM’s. How about a BMW……….Oops!!! System Error. Yamraj doesn’t provide for all the extra luggage!

You are only allowed to carry your own beloved, precious, gifted, unique soul. So now ask yourself what does that soul carries? (I know its looks like a boring, intellectual,’ who cares for this’ question) . But for a moment just give yourself a chance here and think about it .What will thy soul carry with itself? Money ,T-shirt, hot girlfriend?

NO. Not even a loved one even if you try badly for it ( As kingdom of God doesn’t provide for these services. No offence to all the atheists. Well can call it divinity, nature, supreme self for your convenience). But that eternal soul doesn’t carry any materialistic thing. What it does carry with itself are some impressions which are result of our good and bad deeds or we may call it our consciousness or our blessed conscience.

If this wasn’t true. then why we are born with some innate qualities like truthfulness , affection, warmth, honesty and most importantly our conscience. That is the reason why on one hand some children who grow up in an abusive environment still grow up to become loving and affectionate people, but some others bred in a comparatively comfortable, secure and happy childhood end up becoming selfish and corrupt people. Outside circumstance does affect us like our parents, friends, schooling but believe me or not it is that conscience and holding onto our own innate values, beliefs , convictions which we accumulated over many births that make us who we REALLY are from deep inside ( It is really deep!!!)

It is for us to first identify, then acknowledge and finally honour those beliefs, to abide by them and bend our life into a direction which only serves them.

And realizing all this takes time and patience. I am not here asking someone to live on Himalyas like a rishi and meditate. It can be done by sitting alone for 30minutes Unfortunately people have this misconception that meditation is something boring or related to God and prayers. Believe me it is NOT.. It is about identifying , meeting ,seeing, hearing, touching, knowing and finally falling in love with our own self. It really is this simple. Even a dumb ass will understand this.

Trust me you are your best friend and best adviser. Its all within you. All the amazing power. And anyways what happens when we take someone else’s advice. For a moment it seems perfect, but then you start doubting the same advice, sometimes even doubting intentions of the adviser, hence ending up mistrusting that person and even more your own self. Well I am not suggesting here to become a loner and live in some Himalyan Hermit ……………….But to love yourself and most importantly know yourself first . Not that fake love hidden in pride and arrogance(very common). But a true ,pure, eternal love. Love which can’t be shaken by any outsider .Love whose foundation is strong and permanent. And when you will reach this stage (I hope everyone does) , you will automatically be affectionate ,lovable, comforting, tolerant and helpful to that outsider. You will understand your own life and its complications and will definitely be better equipped to bring a smile on the face of every person you meet. All you need is a deep contemplation and if possible some meditation.

All this comes straight from my heart. And I guess I wrote this primarily for myself .I don’t know about anyone ,but whenever I will be in distress , this blog will let me connect with myself.

As now I realize this is Who I Am. And I will strive to stick to my own self , my beliefs, values and conscience till the end……………………

So that I can die a self assured death

God bless all