HORSE TRADERS
When Guru Nanak Dev Jee was asked to join a group of Muslim worshippers in prayer, he gladly agreed. However, when the people were praying and bowing according to the Muslim tradition, Guru Jee did not actually join in. When asked, why they had not joined in, Guru Jee basically explained how all they had seen were people going through the physical motions of prayer. Guru Jee then singled out the individual, who had challenged them and told him, that although he was praying, his mind was absorbed in his worldly affairs and business and it was busy selling horses. This is such a simple and obvious example but in reality, we are all victims of the over active mind. The mind can travel faster than anything else in the universe. It also takes into the past and then in the next instant, in to the future. Who is the driver of the Mind? If we stop to reflect for a moment, we will see that all these thought patterns are driven by the Ego at the centre and the four other negative aspects (lust, anger, greed and attachment) follow closely behind. It is important when we read Gurbani or meditate on the Naam, that we totally surrender ourselves. This is the only way, the Mind and itβs driver, Ego can be kept subdued. Otherwise, we all become the horse traders that Guru Sahib Ji witnessed. bharame bhoolaa dheh dhis dhaavai || Deluded by doubt, their minds wander around in the ten directions. nimakh maeh chaar ku(n)T fir aavai || In an instant, their minds go to the four corners of the world and come back again. kar kirapaa jis apanee bhagat dhei || Those whom the Lord mercifully blesses with His devotional worship naanak te jan naam milei || - O Nanak, they are absorbed into the Naam. Vaheguroo!
