The Price of Distinction of Character and Behavior

Here is an excerpt from a lecture by Siri Singh Sahib Ji on December 6, 1979, where he talks about Hari Singh Bird and his daughter, OngKar:

With unsteady, be steady, with unhappy be happy, with unwanted be wanted, with unknown be known, with unacknowledged acknowledge, with unpleasant be pleasant, with uncommunicative communicate, with unexpansion, expand. There is no way to stop, life is a all way, the going experience. Life is inspiringly an expiring experience, life is beautiful. Life is the most beautiful gift you ever got and each day you lived you must be very, very grateful that each way you’ve lived that’s why next day you should get up to in gratitude and do Sadhana. I am yet to see in ten years, one single man who has done his Sadhana honestly having any problem. I have seen one man who had tremendous problems and he went through it solving all, all, without any problem and this year after ten years, for his ten years of complete Sadhana I honored him as a Mukhia Singh Sahib.

It is amazing, if you understand his history. When I met him I was only to stay at his home. He was at that time approximately, I do not know, was earning thirty to thirty five thousand dollar a year. He has a beautiful home in Florida, Orlando. He has two beautiful children and I remember the first party he called people to come and meet me around the swimming pool in his house, huge, vast variety of people came. We sat down and talked and he said very simply. He said, “I do not know what I can do, but I want to do something in my life.”

And I said to him, “Without experience of God what life is?”

He said, “How one can get experience of God?”

I say, “The answer is Sadhana.”

And next morning he was doing Sadhana. It was ten years ago. He continue doing Sadhana, his job was gone, he had to sell his house, he had to lot of things, he had to take children to the schools, he has to do the whole thing, he is re-established today. There’s nothing wrong. They are the happiest married couple. Children, first time in America, I can example two children who are loving to their parents and absolutely obedient, absolutely honest, frank and truthful. May the blessing of Guru Ram Das and God be with this family so that at least we have one example to quote.

It’s very funny when I was asking Ek Ong Kar Kaur, I say, “Why don’t you go to this military school?”

She said, “As you say sir.”

I said, “It will be very hard.”

She said, “I know.”

I said, “Set up the traditions, so all good girls can join this school.”

She said, “Sure sir.  I know I am a pioneer. I’ll lead it. I’ll set it and you will be proud of me.”

That’s it. There was no argument, there was no hanky-panky, there was no back and forth discussion. There was so much charming desire to do right. It was very powerful scene but all those you have come, you have a responsibility, a very powerful responsibility that you have to provide a leading example to your children, to your neighbors. It is a very simple statement. You have chosen your self to be distinct. The price of distinction of character and behavior is that you must always be righteous. You must be flowing therefore you must be humble and you must be bright therefore you must be graceful. These are certain requirements. You have chosen to stand out and say, I am, I am which is the basic thing which Moses wanted to search, which Abraham wanted to search, which Mohammed wanted to search, which Jesus wanted to search and they all came with the answer, I am, I am.

Listen to the full lecture here: