"SAABAT SOORAT": INTACT CONSCIOUSNESS

Let good deeds be your body, and faith your bride.
Play and enjoy God's love and delight. Purify what
is impure, and let the Lord's Presence be your
religious tradition. Let your "Saabat Soorat"
be the turban on your head (sggs 1084).
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The content of the scriptures is esoteric knowledge recorded for the purpose of reflection and contemplation; to be followed by Self-experience. However, in ignorance and selfishness, the educated members of the sly priest-class, clergy, clerics and religious scholars learn to misinterpret the contents of their scriptures and then arrogate themselves a monopoly of this knowledge, and then viciously trade upon it in a businesslike manner.

Misunderstanding of the true message of the Spiritual Masters results in confusion and misguiding the generation. This confusion arises from our incapacity to understand what exactly is the connotation meant by the Spiritual Teachers when they used certain terms in their poetic expressions of the inexpressible Infinite Truth. One of such expressions in the Gurbani (Sri Guru Granth Sahib, SGGS) is "Saabat Soorat". The Word of the Gurbani is Spiritual; thus, beyond body-consciousness (false ego). However, in the menacing body-consciousness when we stand confused and lost, we may take a direct literal meaning of this expression to suggest something like "a complete face", "an unaltered face", "an unaltered body", and so on! But, such interpretation based on superficial dictionary meaning would be an insult not only to the Divine Word of the Gurbani but also to the Great Masters who uttered these words in extreme ecstasy of their own Spiritual Experiences.

When we get more and more acquainted with the true Spirit of the entire Gurbani (or other Spiritual literature for that matter), the scriptural connotation in which the expression such as "Saabat Soorat" is used becomes crystal clear. "Saabat" means intact, complete, total, undivided, unconditioned, unadulterated, unalloyed, unbroken, timeless, uncontaminated, immutable or pure. "Soorat" (or "Soorati") means Awareness or Consciousness. Integrating both terms, "Saabat Soorat" constitutes that state of Pure Awareness or Unconditioned Consciousness where there is no time and space or past and future (Doojaa Bhaav or duality). Such a state of Pure "Being" exists when there is no attachment to the mind (egoism).

• nwpwk pwku kir hdUir hdIsw swbq sUriq dsqwr isrw: Nanak paak kari hudoori hudeesaa saabat soorat dastaar siraa: Purify what is impure, and let the Lord's Presence be your religious tradition. Let your Intact Consciousness ("Saabat Soorat") be the turban on your head (sggs 1084).
• ndir iqnw kau nwnkw ij swbqu lwey rwis: Nadar tinaa kau Nankaa ji saabat laaeae raas: God casts His Glance of Grace, O Nanak, upon those who have preserved their Spiritual Wealth (Pure Consciousness) Intact (sggs 1238).

Thus, "Saabat Soorat" is our Real Source ("Mool"). However, false ego sense has made us separate from This Source. The state of "Saabat Soorat" is synonymous with many other terms used in the scriptures such as Pure mind (or unattached mind), Truth, Reality, State of complete detachment, egolessness, Self, Soul-Nature, Soul-Consciousness, God-Consciousness, True Nature, Divine Essence, Light, Timelessness, Inner Purity, State of Spiritual Realization, Kingdom of Heaven or God, Virtual State, Love, Joy, Bliss, Peace, Spiritual Perfection, State of Spiritual Enlightenment or Spiritual Consciousness, Pure Spirit, Intact Consciousness or Total Awareness, State of Liberation while incarnated (Jeevan Mukti), Saabat Dil, Shabad-Surti, Joti Savroop (Image of God), Soham ("He is me"), Saabat Poonjee (Intact Wealth), Baal Budhi, Chauthaa Pada or Turiya Avasthaa (Trnascendental Satae), Sahaj Avasthaa, Dasam Duaaraa (Tenth Gate), Sunn Samaadhi (Spiritual Silence), Sat Guru, Saadh, Sant, Sajjan, Saahib, Mahaan Purash, Divine Essence, Anhad Dhuni, Anhad Naad, Anhad Baanee, Anhat Shabad, Panch Shabad, Gur Charan, Gur Moorati, Amrit Dhaaraa, Brahm Gian (intuitive Wisdom and Knowledge), Gobind Gajjiyaa, and so on.

In fact this state of "Saabat Soorat" (Undivided Consciousness) is none other than our Essential Nature we all were born with. We are That Truth-Awareness-Bliss. This state of Ultimate Truth was not only born with us, but It never left us! This leads to the following question: If It never left us then how we lost track of It? Our false ego sense (Hayume) has intervened. That's all! False ego sense is nothing but disturbance on the surface of the Undivided Consciousness ("Saabat Soorat"); resulting in subject-object relationship (duality) where the world of names, shapes, cause, effect, time and space is seen.

Simply put: "Saabat Soorat" is a state of Pure Mind (or Heart) free of imprisonment from false ego — conditioning, attachment, delusion, jealousy, lust, selfishness, fear, desires, stubborn mindedness, pride, confusion, conflict, fear, grief, repression, anger, hatred, vengeance, fanaticism, ignorance, differences, corruption, death, and so forth. In short, the state of "Saabat Soorat" is God's Mind.

Although as an infant we are born as "Saabat Soorat", however, afterwards, while growing, we are trained and programmed to identify with the body-consciousness of "I, me, mine, your". In the process, side by side, there arises false ego — divided or conditioned consciousness — as one grows from infancy to adolescence. It then gets firmly rooted after we marry and entangle in the achievement of various worldly desires. The moment false ego becomes stronger in us, we become prisoner of cravings, fears, and delusions. Consequently, the world of gross objects looks real to us! Such divided or conditioned consciousness results in false self-identifications with the time-bound consciousness, resulting in contamination of the state of Pure Being.

• pihlY phrY rYix kY vxjwirAw imqRw bwlk buiD Acyqu: Pehilai pehurai rain kai vunujaariaa mitraa baalak budhi achaetu: In the first watch of the night, O my merchant friend, your innocent mind (Pure Consciousness) has a childlike understanding (sggs 75).
• jYsI Agin audr mih qYsI bwhir mwieAw]mwieAw Agin sB ieko jyhI krqY Kylu rcwieAw]jw iqsu Bwxw qw jMimAw prvwir Blw BwieAw]ilv CuVkI lgI iqRsnw mwieAw Amru vrqwieAw: As is the fire within the womb, so is Maya outside. The fire of Maya is one and the same; the C Jaisee agni udar mahi taisee baahari maya.......reator has staged this play. According to His Will, the child is born, and the family is very pleased. Over time, love for the Lord wears off, and the child becomes attached to desires; the script of Maya runs its course (sggs 921).
• ds mws mwqw audir rwiKAw bhuir lwgI mwieAw: Das maas maataa oudhar raakhiaa bahuri laagee maaeiaa: For ten months God preserved you in your mother's womb, and then afterward you became attached to Maya (sggs 481).
• eyh mwieAw ijqu hir ivsrY mohu aupjY Bwau dUjw lwieAw: Eh Maya jit Har visrai moh upjai bhaau dooja laya: This is Maya, by which the Lord is forgotten; emotional attachment and love of duality is born (sggs 921).
• mwieAw moih ivswirAw jgq ipqw pRiqpwil: Maya moh visaariaa jagat pitaa pritipaal: In attachment to Maya, one forgets the Father, the Cherisher of the World (sggs 30).
• moh TgaulI hau mueI sw vrqY sMswir: Moh thagaulee hayu muee saa vartai sansaar: The drug of emotional attachment has destroyed me, as it has destroyed the whole world (sggs 61).

How can Undivided become divided? It does not! In reality, Undivided ever remains Intact ("Saabat"), because Absolute cannot be "cause" and "effect". If you take something out of Infinite, It still remains Infinite! The opposite of "Saabat Soorat" is "ego-center" or the feeling of "mine, mine". With this "ego-center" arises the confusion, in which we keep making one error: We take ourselves to be finite, and the inner for the outer and the outer for the inner. That Conscious Principle which is ever present in us, we take to be outside us, and what is outside (the world of gross objects) we take to be in us. Although the mind and its projections are external, but due to our faulty vision (egoism or Haume) we take them to be intimate. Consequently, we believe the world to be objective, while its entirely a projection of our psyche.

• myrI myrI kir kir fUby Kip Kip muey gvwrw: Meree meree kari kari doobe khapi khapi muye gavaaraa: Continually claiming, "Mine, mine", the mortals are drowned; the fools waste away and die (sggs 380).
• mwDvy ikAw khIAY BRmu AYsw]jYsw mwnIAY hoie n qYsw: Maadhve kiya kaheeyai bhram aisaa. Jaisaa maaneeyai hoe na taisaa: O Lord, what can I say about this illusion; what we deem a thing to be, in reality, it is not like that (sggs 657).
• hovnu kaurw Anhovnu mITw ibiKAw mih lptwie jry: Hovun kouraa anehovun meet(h)aa bikhiaa mahi lapataae jare: That which exists, seems bitter; that which does not exist, seems sweet to you. Engrossed in corruption, you are burning away (sggs 823).
• AMimRqu kaurw ibiKAw mITI: Amrit kouraa bikhiaa meethee: Nectar (Naam) seems bitter to you, and poison is sweet (sggs 892).

Thus, although we all were born as "Saabat Soorat", however, with the expression of Vaasnaas — the undigested desires, psychological conditionings, latent memories, innate tendencies, inherent inclinations, self-limitations, dispositions, obstinate clinging to a fancy, deluded imagination, memories or subtle impressions of the past existing in our bosom — we ended up being a limited body-mind-intellect. Then, from this deluded personality arose the perceiver of objects, the feeler of emotions, and the thinker of thoughts. This is duality or separateness from the Timeless Consciousness.

• swbqu rKih q rwm Bju nwih q ibnTI bwq: Saabat rakhahi taa raam bhaj naahi taa binathee baat: If you wish to keep your Consciousness Intact, then meditate on God; otherwise, It will break (sggs 1376).
• prmysr qy BuilAW ivAwpin sBy rog: Permesar te bhuliya viaapan sabhe rog: Forgetting the Transcendent Lord (Pure Consciousness or Saabat Soorat), all sorts of illnesses are contracted (sggs 135).

How can we retrace our steps back to our True Nature — "Saabat Sorat"? identification with the finite apparatus of body-mind-intellect constitutes divided or time-bound awareness, while identification with the Infinite and Eternal Self is "Saabat Soorat" or Pure Awareness. If we wish to rediscover This Truth, the scriptures and the Men of Light urge us to abandon the error of mistaken self-identification with the time-bound consciousness (body-identity).

The scriptures say that he who considers himself free becomes free and he who thinks he is bound remains bound. To put it otherwise: "As one thinks, so one becomes''. The mind is the instrument for receiving Self- knowledge. Due to ignorance it identifies with the body which is transient. One who wants to abide in the Self ("Saabat Soorat" or Soul Nature) has to get over this mistaken identification by rooting out everything that falls in the category of the non-Self. By constantly identifying with the Self the seeker manifests his Spiritual Nature called "Saabat Soorat" or "Joti Svaroop".

One of the distinguishing qualities by which it will be possible to identify a man of "Saabat Soorat" is the detached attitude by which he will be behaving even amidst worldly activities. While discharging his worldly duties, such person will not get himself emotionally involved in them. For this, practice of Spiritual exercises from an early age will ensure that as a person grows, he will develop a deep affection to Truth only, ensuring intactness of "Saabat Soorat". Without "Saabat Soorat" or "Saabat Dil", as the Gurbani says, there is no attainment of God.

• kbIr jw kI idl swbiq nhI qw kau khW Kudwie: Kabeer jaakee dil saabati nahee taa kayu kahaan khudaayi: Kabeer says: Without Intact or Pure Heart (Saabat Dil) one can not attain God (sggs 1374).
• scu swbqu kUiV iPrdw Pwvw: Sach saabat koorh firadaa faavaa: The Truth is Undivided, whilst the falsehood moves around addled (Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas Ji).
• sWgY AMdir swbqy sy ivrly bMdy: Saangai andar saabate se virale bande: Those individuals are rare who can endure pain and remain Intact (Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas Ji).
• isdk sbUrI swbqy msqI huiSAwrI: Sidak sabooree saabate masatee hushiaaree: Imbibe in faith, contentment, Intactness, ecstasy, and alertness (Vaar of Bhai Gurdaas Ji).

Such Spiritual Being is called "Gurmukh" in the Gurbani. The opposite of Gurmukh is Manmukh (material being). In other words, a Gurmukh is a person situated at the platform of Undivided Consciousness called "Saabat Soorat". On the contrary, a Manmukh is a person infected with divided consciousness — false ego, Hayume or unenlightened existence. Mental condition of the enlightened ones who have awakened themselves from the material or body-consciousness (Maya) and who have their "ego-center" Spiritualized is described in the Gurbani as follows:

• mnmuK soie rhy sy lUty gurmuiK swbqu BweI hy: Manmukh soe rehae sae loottae gurmukh saabat bhaaee hae: The Mnmukhs remain asleep, and are plundered. The Gurmukhs in their Intact Consciousness remain safe and sound, O Siblings of Destiny (sggs 1024).
• swic smwnI gurmuiK min BwnI gurmuiK swbqu jwgy: Saach samaanee gurmukh mann bhaanee gurmukh saabat jaagae: The Gurmukhs are merged in God; they are pleasing to His Mind. The Gurmukhs have their Consciousness Intact, safe and sound, awake and awake (sggs 1111).
• pUMjI swbqu rwis slwmiq cUkw jm kw Pwhw hy: Poonjee saabat raas salaamat chookaa jam kaa faahaa hae: His Spiritual stock capital is safe and sound. The noose of Death is cut away when one has Consciousness Intact (sggs 1032).
• gurmuiK lwhw lY gey mnmuK cly mUlu gvwie jIa: Gurmukh laahaa lai geae manmukh chalae mool gavaae jeeo: The Gurmukhs reap their spiritual profits and leave, while the manmukhs lose all and depart (sggs 74).
• sB ikCu Gr mih bwhir nwhI]bwhir tolY so Brim BulwhI: Sabh kish ghar mahi baahari naahee. Baahari tolai so bharam bhulaahee: Everything is within the home of the Self; there is nothing beyond. One who searches outside is deluded by doubts (sggs 102).

In order to realize the state of "Saabat Soorat", the Men of Light and the scriptural texts urge us to go back to that state of Pure Being called "Baal Budhi" (infant-like Consciousness). That infant — which we are even at this very moment — is our Real Self (Joti Svaroop). We must retrace our steps back to That state of Intact Consciousness, where the real "I" is still in its Totality. It was later, on account of the rise of false ego, that it became temporarily confused as "I am this or I am that". Simply put: Once the burden of false self-identifications is abandoned, the state of "Saabat Soorat" shines forth from the behind!

• pwieE bwl buiD suKu ry: Paaeiou baal budhi sukh rae: Adopting the innocent mind of a child, I have found Peace (sggs 214).
• Dn bwlI BolI ipru shij rwvY imilAw krm ibDwqw: Dhun baalee bholee pir sahaji raavai miliaa karam bidhaataa: With a childlike, innocent nature, the soul-bride enjoys her Husband Lord in Sahaj; she meets God (sggs 568).
• pRBu imilE suK bwly Boly: Prabh milio sukh baalae bholae: I have met God through innocent faith, and He has blessed me with Peace (sggs 1307).
• bwl suBwie AqIq audwsI: Baal subhaae ateet oudhaasee: With a childlike, innocent nature, remain detached, turning away from the world (sggs 1076).
• Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (Bible, Mt 18:3).
• suD n hovY bwl buiD bwlk lIlw ivc ivhwvy: Sudh na hovai baal budhi baalak leelaa vich vihaavai: Child's wisdom cares not for anything and he passes his time in joyful activities (Vaar Bhai Gurdaas Ji).
• kwieAw ikrdwr Aaurq XkInw ...: kaa-i-aa kirdaar a-urat yakeenaa...: Let good deeds be your body, and faith your bride. Play and enjoy the Lord`s love and delight. rang tamaasay maan hakeenaa. Purify what is impure, and let the Lord`s Presence be your religious tradition. Let your Total Awareness be the turban on your head (sggs 1084).

• gurmiq Koj pry qb pkry Dnu swbqu rwis aubirAw: Gurmath khoj pare tab pakare dhann saabat raas oubariaa: Through the Gurmati (God's Teaching), the beings are reclaimed, and their Sipiritual Wealth (of Pure Consciousness) is recovered Intact (sggs 1178).