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Book Review: Soul Search By Swarn Singh Bains
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<blockquote data-quote="Dalvinder Singh Grewal" data-source="post: 220831" data-attributes="member: 22683"><p>Book Review</p><p></p><p> Soul Search, By Swarn Singh Bains</p><p> Self-published, Pages 369</p><p></p><p> A Review by Dr Dalvinder Singh Grewal</p><p></p><p>Before me, is the recently published book ‘Soul Search’ of Sardar Swaran Singh Bains who sent me a set of e-books a fortnight back. A deeply devoted Gursikh, Sardar Swaran Singh Bains is an active participant in discussions on ‘Sikh philosophy.Net’ where we got acquainted with each other during discussions. Later, he sent me his books ‘Soul Search’ (English Poems), ‘Prem Piasi’ and Chinag (Punjabi Poems) and English Translation of ‘Sri Gur Granth Sahib’ through email requesting for the review of the books. It is a massive work on Sikhism by this dedicated and committed person whose soul appears totally tuned to Him as is apparent from his renderings. Here the review of the English book ‘Soul Search’ is presented for the benefit of the readers.</p><p></p><p>Most of the poems of ‘Soul Search’ are the translated version of his originally written in Punjabi his mother tongue and contain his pure thought. None the less the poems written in English are the result of his later experiences gained in the western world where he perfected the language through a dialogue process with the original speakers of English. Almost all poems are expressions of his spiritual experiences. Spiritually tuned to Him, he puts his feelings from the innermost aesthetically. These spiritual experiences are a guide for a true seeker which will certainly help one understand the unknown world which raises the first question for everyone ‘Who Am I?’ ‘What is the purpose of my life?” “How do I find my Goal and attain it?” “How do I self- realize?’ “How do I realize God?” “Who is my real guide for realizing of self and God?” ‘What all impediments I have to cross through to reach my goal? “How do I cross these impediments?” etc.</p><p></p><p>From the preface and the list of contents listing 363 pages of poetry out of the 369 pages of the book, one has oversight into the topics covered which include ‘Self Realization’ ‘God-Realization with the guidance of the Guru’, ‘God and His Creation’; ‘his deep love and devotion towards God’ ‘Ways and Methods to meet Him’, ‘Obstacles in meeting Him and how to overcome these obstacles’ etc., for which he provides answers by searching answers from his soul.</p><p></p><p>His poetic journey starts with the bounden relationship of body and soul; body being protector of the soul has its importance:</p><p> </p><p>Life is a journey, time plays a role,</p><p>The body is a train, carrying the soul.</p><p>The life is a journey, birth a station,</p><p>Healthy! You live, die, sick patient</p><p>This is indeed a brief but strange way of describing the journey of life as he explains it further:</p><p>‘There is no cure; you better endure.</p><p>You are born to die. Don’t you know why?”</p><p>He then asks us to self-realize this pointer to which is given in the preface itself from his experiences, “I learnt from my Guru and from Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ and “God is selfless love, humility and dedication mentioned in SGGS’ and warns against ‘duality and slander.’ He writes, “If one can maintain understand to control and guide his mind, Path to Divinity becomes easy. First, find a Guru and fall in love with Him and learn how to console with Him.” And “If you have longings for finding a Guru and God, you will find Him through a perfect Guru.” He finds Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the ultimate Guru to guide him to God.</p><p></p><p>For self-realisation, his poems “Realisation’, “Self-Realisation” and ‘Soul Search” are valuable guides.</p><p></p><p>Pray to almighty, through guru’s blessing</p><p>Enshrine guru in mind, recite his lesson</p><p>Recite with each breath, true meditation</p><p>See with the inner eye, and obtain realization</p><p>Deeds are examined, not your possession</p><p>Results pointed to you, after examination</p><p>You make your fate, next life expectation</p><p>Credits are written in fate, after explanation</p><p>O Bains meet the guru; learn the godly lesson</p><p></p><p>Search for the Guru is explained in the Poems” “Guru”, “Guru’s Image” and “Guru’s Blessings” ‘Spiritual Guru’ etc. </p><p></p><p>God’s worship straightens the mind;</p><p>True guru puts it in the mind</p><p>Guru’s blessing is the lesson for the mind, </p><p>One cannot reach destiny without a guru.</p><p>Reciting guru; guru; the devotee merges with the guru,</p><p>Guru is the treasure of God’s name</p><p>Have respect for the guru in your mind,</p><p>When you are in search of a guru</p><p>Do not turn back, keep moving forward</p><p>And follow the instinct</p><p>He who satisfies your mind by meeting</p><p>And talking to, call him the guru</p><p>He who longs to find a guru, </p><p>The guru comes and meets him.</p><p></p><p>Keep saying God: God all the time with guru’s blessing</p><p>God sends the guru to recite His Name</p><p>And guide others to do so</p><p>God came into existence reciting the inner guru</p><p>God made the guru a middle man </p><p>And sent him in the world to guide other beings</p><p></p><p>His poems on God started with explaining the “Guru the God”, ‘Origin’, “Creation’, Divided God’ etc from various aspects</p><p></p><p>Straighten your mind, eliminate the temptation</p><p>Worship Him humbly, with love and passion</p><p>Humility cleanses soul, loving and devotion</p><p>Recite God, with devotion and determination</p><p>O Bains, you realize God, eternal destination</p><p></p><p>Pray single-minded, God will listen to your call</p><p>It is God’s inherent quality to care for his devotees</p><p>And the guru unites with God</p><p>To recite God is to console with mind</p><p>But it is difficult to do.</p><p></p><p>When the mind has faith; God’s name enshrines in the mind</p><p>God’s devotees try many ways and means</p><p>to guide their mind on Godly path</p><p>Some worship in Mosque, others in the temple;</p><p>but the mind does not come under control</p><p>Doing good deeds and following a faith is a worldly affair</p><p>But the mind does not go towards God</p><p>What happens in God’s court, the same happens in the world</p><p>People start different faiths to copy</p><p>what happens in God’s court</p><p>Even saints do not know the process; they</p><p>get tangled in customs and rituals</p><p></p><p>The Guru and the God are the most important at tandem to self-realize and realize God. Recitation of the Name of God as per Guru’s teachings straightens and cleanses the mind</p><p></p><p>Recite God and straighten your mind, it cleanses the soul</p><p>Guru’s teaching cleanses the soul, </p><p>Following guru’s teaching straightens the mind</p><p>Contemplating in mind is worship by the mind</p><p>And the cleansed soul is accepted in God’s court</p><p>The mind cleanses by thinking right, </p><p>The filthy mind cannot go across the world ocean</p><p>Guru’s teaching is soap to cleanse mind and</p><p>to search guru’s teaching is the essence</p><p>Guru’s teaching is the guru’s blessing, guru’s</p><p>Teaching is divine wisdom</p><p>Work with hands and listen to God’s name</p><p>and tune your mind to God’s name</p><p>Recite God’s name following guru’s teaching</p><p>And sing God; God in the mind</p><p>It is like darkness disappears at sunrise;</p><p>Humbly put your mind to guru’s</p><p>As the moon disappears at dawn, the same way</p><p> The darkness of mind disappears obeying</p><p> And following guru’s teaching and reciting God</p><p>It is dark under the lamp, but second</p><p>Lamp eliminates the darkness</p><p>He explains this further: “God created the world in love. God blessed all with love at birth and he is realised in Love.” He shows his intensity of love for God in his poem in very simple words:</p><p>You are my love; You are my lover</p><p>You are my separation; You are my union</p><p>You are my pleasure; You are my pain</p><p>You are my contentment; You are my greed</p><p>You are my creator; You are my caretaker</p><p>You are my life; You make me survive</p><p>You are my promise and fulfiller of it</p><p>You are my lover; You are my love</p><p>You are my lover: You are my beloved</p><p>You are my heart: You are my soul</p><p>You are my principle and interest</p><p>You are my end: You are my origin</p><p></p><p>This love for God reverberates in his poems describing its various aspects: ‘Love’ “Beloved”, “Love of the Beloved” “Aura of Love” “ Design of Love”, Test of Love” “Come O Beloved” “Joy of Love” etc.</p><p></p><p>He also shows the importance of Sangat in removing duality:</p><p>Devotee’s congregation is the second lamp;</p><p>It cleanses the mirror of the mind</p><p>Duality gets eliminated and mind enlightens</p><p>Through divine knowledge</p><p>Clothes are washed with soap, clean clothes entice others.</p><p></p><p>There are so many other aspects like ‘separation’, ‘unification’, ‘Death’ ‘Salvation, etc., which the reader must enjoy by acquiring the compendium of Realisation of self and God were written by the author with extreme devotion, commitment and love since space restricts from further writing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dalvinder Singh Grewal, post: 220831, member: 22683"] Book Review Soul Search, By Swarn Singh Bains Self-published, Pages 369 A Review by Dr Dalvinder Singh Grewal Before me, is the recently published book ‘Soul Search’ of Sardar Swaran Singh Bains who sent me a set of e-books a fortnight back. A deeply devoted Gursikh, Sardar Swaran Singh Bains is an active participant in discussions on ‘Sikh philosophy.Net’ where we got acquainted with each other during discussions. Later, he sent me his books ‘Soul Search’ (English Poems), ‘Prem Piasi’ and Chinag (Punjabi Poems) and English Translation of ‘Sri Gur Granth Sahib’ through email requesting for the review of the books. It is a massive work on Sikhism by this dedicated and committed person whose soul appears totally tuned to Him as is apparent from his renderings. Here the review of the English book ‘Soul Search’ is presented for the benefit of the readers. Most of the poems of ‘Soul Search’ are the translated version of his originally written in Punjabi his mother tongue and contain his pure thought. None the less the poems written in English are the result of his later experiences gained in the western world where he perfected the language through a dialogue process with the original speakers of English. Almost all poems are expressions of his spiritual experiences. Spiritually tuned to Him, he puts his feelings from the innermost aesthetically. These spiritual experiences are a guide for a true seeker which will certainly help one understand the unknown world which raises the first question for everyone ‘Who Am I?’ ‘What is the purpose of my life?” “How do I find my Goal and attain it?” “How do I self- realize?’ “How do I realize God?” “Who is my real guide for realizing of self and God?” ‘What all impediments I have to cross through to reach my goal? “How do I cross these impediments?” etc. From the preface and the list of contents listing 363 pages of poetry out of the 369 pages of the book, one has oversight into the topics covered which include ‘Self Realization’ ‘God-Realization with the guidance of the Guru’, ‘God and His Creation’; ‘his deep love and devotion towards God’ ‘Ways and Methods to meet Him’, ‘Obstacles in meeting Him and how to overcome these obstacles’ etc., for which he provides answers by searching answers from his soul. His poetic journey starts with the bounden relationship of body and soul; body being protector of the soul has its importance: Life is a journey, time plays a role, The body is a train, carrying the soul. The life is a journey, birth a station, Healthy! You live, die, sick patient This is indeed a brief but strange way of describing the journey of life as he explains it further: ‘There is no cure; you better endure. You are born to die. Don’t you know why?” He then asks us to self-realize this pointer to which is given in the preface itself from his experiences, “I learnt from my Guru and from Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ and “God is selfless love, humility and dedication mentioned in SGGS’ and warns against ‘duality and slander.’ He writes, “If one can maintain understand to control and guide his mind, Path to Divinity becomes easy. First, find a Guru and fall in love with Him and learn how to console with Him.” And “If you have longings for finding a Guru and God, you will find Him through a perfect Guru.” He finds Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the ultimate Guru to guide him to God. For self-realisation, his poems “Realisation’, “Self-Realisation” and ‘Soul Search” are valuable guides. Pray to almighty, through guru’s blessing Enshrine guru in mind, recite his lesson Recite with each breath, true meditation See with the inner eye, and obtain realization Deeds are examined, not your possession Results pointed to you, after examination You make your fate, next life expectation Credits are written in fate, after explanation O Bains meet the guru; learn the godly lesson Search for the Guru is explained in the Poems” “Guru”, “Guru’s Image” and “Guru’s Blessings” ‘Spiritual Guru’ etc. God’s worship straightens the mind; True guru puts it in the mind Guru’s blessing is the lesson for the mind, One cannot reach destiny without a guru. Reciting guru; guru; the devotee merges with the guru, Guru is the treasure of God’s name Have respect for the guru in your mind, When you are in search of a guru Do not turn back, keep moving forward And follow the instinct He who satisfies your mind by meeting And talking to, call him the guru He who longs to find a guru, The guru comes and meets him. Keep saying God: God all the time with guru’s blessing God sends the guru to recite His Name And guide others to do so God came into existence reciting the inner guru God made the guru a middle man And sent him in the world to guide other beings His poems on God started with explaining the “Guru the God”, ‘Origin’, “Creation’, Divided God’ etc from various aspects Straighten your mind, eliminate the temptation Worship Him humbly, with love and passion Humility cleanses soul, loving and devotion Recite God, with devotion and determination O Bains, you realize God, eternal destination Pray single-minded, God will listen to your call It is God’s inherent quality to care for his devotees And the guru unites with God To recite God is to console with mind But it is difficult to do. When the mind has faith; God’s name enshrines in the mind God’s devotees try many ways and means to guide their mind on Godly path Some worship in Mosque, others in the temple; but the mind does not come under control Doing good deeds and following a faith is a worldly affair But the mind does not go towards God What happens in God’s court, the same happens in the world People start different faiths to copy what happens in God’s court Even saints do not know the process; they get tangled in customs and rituals The Guru and the God are the most important at tandem to self-realize and realize God. Recitation of the Name of God as per Guru’s teachings straightens and cleanses the mind Recite God and straighten your mind, it cleanses the soul Guru’s teaching cleanses the soul, Following guru’s teaching straightens the mind Contemplating in mind is worship by the mind And the cleansed soul is accepted in God’s court The mind cleanses by thinking right, The filthy mind cannot go across the world ocean Guru’s teaching is soap to cleanse mind and to search guru’s teaching is the essence Guru’s teaching is the guru’s blessing, guru’s Teaching is divine wisdom Work with hands and listen to God’s name and tune your mind to God’s name Recite God’s name following guru’s teaching And sing God; God in the mind It is like darkness disappears at sunrise; Humbly put your mind to guru’s As the moon disappears at dawn, the same way The darkness of mind disappears obeying And following guru’s teaching and reciting God It is dark under the lamp, but second Lamp eliminates the darkness He explains this further: “God created the world in love. God blessed all with love at birth and he is realised in Love.” He shows his intensity of love for God in his poem in very simple words: You are my love; You are my lover You are my separation; You are my union You are my pleasure; You are my pain You are my contentment; You are my greed You are my creator; You are my caretaker You are my life; You make me survive You are my promise and fulfiller of it You are my lover; You are my love You are my lover: You are my beloved You are my heart: You are my soul You are my principle and interest You are my end: You are my origin This love for God reverberates in his poems describing its various aspects: ‘Love’ “Beloved”, “Love of the Beloved” “Aura of Love” “ Design of Love”, Test of Love” “Come O Beloved” “Joy of Love” etc. He also shows the importance of Sangat in removing duality: Devotee’s congregation is the second lamp; It cleanses the mirror of the mind Duality gets eliminated and mind enlightens Through divine knowledge Clothes are washed with soap, clean clothes entice others. There are so many other aspects like ‘separation’, ‘unification’, ‘Death’ ‘Salvation, etc., which the reader must enjoy by acquiring the compendium of Realisation of self and God were written by the author with extreme devotion, commitment and love since space restricts from further writing. [/QUOTE]
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