Guru Amar Das was the third Sikh master. He had a daugher named Bibi Bhani. She was perhaps the one woman in Sikh history who could have become the Guru, herself. She did a profound act of devotion one day.
One day when Guru Amar Das was resting, his chair started to break. In order to make sure his rest wasn't disturbed, she put her hands in between the 2 shards of broken wood. When he came out of his sleep, he saw what she had done. He then said to her, "You can ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you."
Up to that point, anyone could become the next Guru. And at that moment Bibi Bhani asked, "I would like for the line of the Gurus to come through me." She didn't ask to become the Guru herself. She asked to become a manifestation of the Divine Mother. Her father granted this to her.
Bibi Bhani was married to Guru Ram Das. This was a profoundly patriarchical culture. The first son was traditionally the one who inhereted everything. The first born son was Prithi Chand. Arjan Mal was the third born son. Prithi Chand was expecting to become the next Guru, and he was jealous and nervous about Arjan.
Guru Ram Das and his family lived in Amritsar. Someone from Lahore invited the Guru to go to a wedding. The Guru couldn't make it, so he asked his sons to go and represent him. Prithi Chand refused because he said he had to take care of the langar and other responsibilities. The second son said he was a renunciate and he was more interested in meditating than doing that. Arjan Mal wanted to obey whatever Guru Ram Das's command was. Before Arjan left, Guru Ram Das told him not to return until he was called for.
The wedding happens, and his father hasn't called for him. Arjan then began to miss his father and Guru. He went into a deep longing. He decided to write the Guru a letter. This is his first letter.
"My mind longs to see you, oh Guide of Light.
It weeps like the Cuckoo without water.
My desire goes unsatisfied,
Peace does not come to me
So long as I do not see my wise Beloved One.
I would give everything that I am.
I would dissolve myself as a sacrifice
So that I could behold you, Guide of Light,
My wise Beloved One"
He is calling on his father. He gives the letter to a servant to bring to his father, but Prithi Chand intercepts the letter before it arrives. Prithi Chand freaks out when he reads the letter. He sends the servant to tell Arjan to just keep waiting until his father calls for him. The servant went and told Arjan what happened, and Arjan asked if his father had seen the letter. The servant told him no. These communications took a lot of time in those days. So Arjan is now in an even deeper state of longing. This is the play of the soul that we are doing all the time. We miss God. We miss connection.
Arjan writes a second letter.
"Oh Darling, your face is so delightful,
And the sound of your heavenly words bring harmony and ease.
It has been such a long time since this Cuckoo,
Lost in longing,
Has seen a single rain drop.
My dear, my Beloved Protector and Friend,
The land where you live is so blessed.
I would give everything that I am.
I would dissolve myself as a sacrifice
For you, Guide of Light.
My dear, my Beloved Protector and Friend"
Arjan told the servant to make sure this letter gets into the hands of his father. But Prithi Chand is now on the watch. The poison of greed, ego, and pride is interrupting the call of love. This same thing happens inside of ourselves, and it happens with each other.
When the servant comes, Prithi Chand literally tackles the him and pulls the letter out of his hand. He tells the servant to tell Arjan to keep waiting. This is what the soul goes through. The soul longs for love. It's so innocent, and these poisons come and ambush it and everything is such a challenge. When the servant arrives to Lahore and tells Arjan what happend, Arjan writes the third letter, and each of these letters gets more intense in their call to love.
"Just one moment of being apart from you takes me into the Age of Darkness.
Now when will we meet again, Beloved?
You adorable, enchanting Divine One?
My nights never end.
Sleep does not come to me,
Without seeing the radiant court of my dear Guide of Light.
I would give everything that I am.
I would dissolve myself as a sacrifice
For that radiant court of Ultimate Truth
Where my dear Guide of Light abides"
He puts the number 3 on this letter, and he tells the servant, "No matter what it takes, get this letter into the hands of my father." So the servant knows what Prithi Chand is planning, and Prithi Chand is also watching out for the servant. When the servant comes back to Amritsar, he waits for Prithi Chand to be distracted by his businesses, and he sneaks in to see the Guru. He gives this letter to Guru Ram Das.
Guru Ram Das reads the letter and he sees the number 3. He knows that something is going on. He asks the servant where the first and second letter are. The servant tells the whole story. Guru Ram Das calls in Prithi Chand who denies the whole story. Denial is the game of the ego, and the game of the mind. The ego denies that it is blocking the love. That is the problem with ego. It is given to us to serve our life, but it makes a shadow that blocks us from experiencing love, and the Guru is the only one who can change that. That is why we meditate. That is why we chant. So we can give the Guru the chance to confront the ego, so we can answer the call of love.
Guru Ram Das has the servant get the letters from Prithi Chand's coat. The Guru tells Prithi Chand, "I see you for what you really are." Guru Ram Das always knew what his sons were, but in that moment the game got revealed. Now it is not possible for Prithi Chand to become Guru because the Guruship is a consciousness and not a political game.
Guru Ram Das calls for Arjan. He not only calls for him but he sends Baba Buddha with a carriage and an entourage to bring back Arjan to Amritsar with reverence and ceremony. But the test of love is not done yet. Arjan presents himself before the Guru, and the Guru gives a test to both Prithi Chand and Arjan, "You have to complete it. I need one more letter." He tells Prithi Chand, "If you can finish this, the Guruship is yours." Here is Arjan's last letter.
"How wonderfully fortunate!
This wise saint, my Guide of Light, has taken me into his embrace.
I have found the Indestructible Creator in the home of my own heart.
Serving you each moment, I am never separated from you -
Even for an instant.
Dear one, Nanak has become your devotee and your slave.
I give everything that I am,
I dissolve myself as a sacrifice.
Dear one, Nanak has become your devotee and your slave."
When we feel the Divine in ourselves, love never makes us feel less than. Love always gives us the reflection of our own divine reality. That's what true love does. Love manifests as service. If somebody loves you, they will serve you, selflessly, wordlessly. That is what the test of love is. Love will show you that you are divine, and love will elicite service.
The reason the mind and ego fight against real love so much is because once you love, you become a slave to what you love. Because you don't want to have separation from it. You don't want to be apart from it. You just want to serve it constantly. So how can you be anything but a slave? That's what kara represents. When I love the divine, I become a slave to the divine. When I love my higher consciousness I become a slave to my higher consciousness. When I truly see the God in another human being, I will serve the God in that other human being. That is the love we are working to crystalize.
So when Arjan gives this fourth letter to Guru Ram Das, this is the magic moment. This is the moment Bibi Bhani's prayer started - when the patriarchy breaks. Because the Guruship didn't go to the first son by blood right. It went to the son who had the consciousness, who deserved it. Prithi Chand freaked out in the court in front of everyone. He started cursing his father up and down.
Siri Singh Sahib says about these letters, "Guru Arjan Dev as Arjan Mal wrote 3 letters. And Guru Ram Das said complete the 4th letter. He wrote the 4th letter. He got the Guruship. And then Guru Ram Das, out of the blessing of his heart said, 'Whoever will read these 4 letters will become my soul, my projection, shall heal people, shall have places, wealth will go after him again and again. There will be nothing in the life of that man which he will fall short of." Another quote from Yogiji, "The highest disciple love letter is written by Guru Arjan to Guru Ram Das. We call it Shabad Hazarai. Those who sing Shabad Hazarai shall have their souls directly merge with God. Guru Ram Das vouched for it. It allows the separated ones to come back home again with grace. When anybody is abandoned by love or a lover, or there is someone he wants to meet, unite, and put together, if you read that Shabad Hazarai every day and sing it playing it 11 times a day as a sadhana, a personal sadhana, it will bring you victory."
The really annoying thing that the Creator has done is that it's the separation that creates the longing so that the union can happen. In Japji it says, "Sanjog Vijog Dua Kar Chalaavhe." It means, "The great separation and pre-ordained union, both forces run the Universe."
Without the pain of separation that grows, and grows, and grows we don't have the strenth to break through the block so the love can live. It's like the butterfly that has to break through the cocoon. If you try to rip open the cocoon so the butterfly can get out, the butterfly dies, because it needs the challenge to break through in order to fly. We have to have the challenge of separation and the challenge of the poison, for the longing to become so intense that it breaks through and we can crystalize the love.