Anyhow, But I think, if we talk about India's authentic experience with Secularism since ancient times, I think the meaning of Indian secularism will coincide with Spirituality.
Yes, not a political philosophy, nothing to do with State and religion and its separation, but a man's engagement with self and coming to a conclusion that the established rigid religions does not satisfy his needs.
An apt modification in the definition of Secularism should not be "all religions equal", rather, "No religion necessary" not only in Political domain, rather in personal life as well. India's engagement with spirituality depicts that only. Every major spiritual revolution has rejected the earlier religions of its time. Bhakti movement rejected Vedic or puranic Hinduism, Buddha rejected Brahmanical Hinduism, Chaitanya rejected all, so on.
Spirituality and secularism should be exclusive, not inclusive. Inside the head of a man, there should not be any template of knowing the self. The self is free to decide his unique way of freeing himself.
Anyhow, let's talk about a Qawwali, "Tum ek Gorakh Dhanda ho". We will analyze the meaning of this Qawwali in light of this analysis and we will find out how Secularism is not a foreign concept for India and how it is closer in its meaning to spirituality.
Here we go...
कभी यहाँ तुम्हें ढूँडा कभी वहाँ पहुँचा
तुम्हारी दीद की ख़ातिर कहाँ-कहाँ पहुँचा
Meaning: The quest for the search of Meaning, for the search of God. The Seeker seeks, gets exhausted. Nothing should be accepted as a dogma. And if the Dogma is especially, God, No one should believe without verifying. So, he searches and finds himself lost. This is the destiny of every seeker. To find him, the seeker has to lose himself.
ग़रीब मिट गए पामाल हो गए लेकिन
किसी तलक न तेरा आज तक निशाँ पहुँचा
Meaning: Who is a Gareeb? The one who does not know the essence of existence is a Gareeb. You can fool yourself by these existential statements, "Existence Precedes Essence" like Sartre. The reality is Sartre is lost too. Sartre is Gareeb. One who reads the thoughts of Gareeb, is also a Gareeb. You say anything but not want to listen to the truth of silence. Listen! He whispers. He whispers his being in your ears. Nobody knows his signs. Nobody can know. But you can! If you can listen.
हो भी नहीं और हर जा हो
तुम इक गोरख धंदा हो
हर ज़र्रे में किस शान से तू जल्वा-नुमा है
हैराँ है मगर 'अक़्ल में कैसा है तू क्या है
तुझे दैर-ओ-हरम में मैं ने ढूँढा तू नहीं मिलता
मगर तशरीफ़ फ़र्मा तुझ को अपने दिल में देखा है
जब ब-जुज़ तेरे कोई दूसरा मौजूद नहीं
फिर समझ में नहीं आता तेरा पर्दा करना
Meaning: This is the nature of God or Godliness or meaning. It "is" simultaneously and "is not". Only who has experienced this truth gets out of the debate of Theism and atheism. People who know Quantum mechanics are habitual of the superposition of mutually contradictory states. "To be" and "not to be" are two states in which God exists. In the stone statue of Krishna, he is, and he is not. In the invisibility in the Mosque, he is, and he is not. How can he be and he be not at the same time. He is not in the sense you understand being. You understand being as being like you, in flesh and soul. He is not like that. He is in his own way. Incomprehensible, unknowable. That's why he is a risky business (Gorakh dhanda). He is not for everyone. Everyone wants God on his side. But no one wants to be in God's side. Because to be on God's side is hard. To be on God's side is to believe in your version of truth and follow it to the end. It means Wearing a crown of Thorns and getting nailed on the cross and not yelling, "Father! Why have you forsaken me?" Do not question the will of God. To be on his side, is to become his instrument of purpose and do what you think he stands by until the end.
Do you think he wants you to speak the truth? If yes, the speak the truth, even if it means you have to drink the Hemlock. Become Socrates for him. If you think he wants, you to declare "La illaha" or "There is no God". Only God can be so great that he would say to his Devotee, declare in this world, that there is no God, that God is dead. Only God can be this great that he does not care about his being so much.
In every atom is he, in every soul and soulless is he. But of course, it is incomprehensible to the mind. The most Kafir thing in the world is the Mind. The Mind cannot comprehend God. Mind can only reason. God is not reasonable. Godliness is. But God is not. Because Reason is but pattern matching. But if you are yourself part of the pattern, you cannot judge the pattern. Only a part apart, can judge better, and no one is a part apart. This is a Grand Design.
The Seeker says, I searched in Temples and Mosques, but all in vain. I did not find you. Nobody can find Gods in temples and mosques. It is like finding yourself in the mirror. It is not you but your inverted projection, your image. If you gaze into the eyes of the deity of the Temple, the deity, the statue Gazes back at you, in an eerie horrifying way, as if mocking you, saying, "Ab tak aate ho bheekh maangne?" "Still, you come here to beg?"
The Seeker says I have found you often in my heart. God sits in a comfortable space inside you. You need a specific balance of life to understand the Godliness within you. Buddha is Godliness. So Godly and So godless. The one who finds God within declares, "There is no God!". Because actually there is no God. The one in the seeker's heart is not different than the seeker himself. Slowly, the seeker realizes, there is no God, is a correct statement because there is no such a thing as God. The reality is, when there is only one in this world, then there is none in the world.
The truth is, "There is no seeker", or "There is no world". There is only God. But to say it in a manner that one understands, is "There is no God".
The Seeker remains perplexed even after knowing God. So Godly and so godless is this world. Why are you latent? Why are you hidden? So apparent and so hidden. There is none other than God. There is no Vibhat. But there is God. But the God is latent. Why? Why Vibhat lives openly while God, the grand, lives in exile? Let there be God. Let there not be Vibhat. Let Vibhat die. "Ishwaraye Swaha, Idam na mam" or "God will remain, not me!".
Tum इक गोरख धंदा हो
कोई सफ़ में तुम्हारी खो गया है
इसी खोए हुए को कुछ मिला है
न बुत-ख़ाने न का'बे में मिला है
मगर टूटे हुए दिल में मिला है
'अदम बन कर कहीं तो छुप गया है
कहीं तू हस्त बन कर आ गया है
नहीं है तू तो फिर इंकार कैसा
नफ़ी भी तेरे होने का पता है
मैं जिस को कह रहा हूँ अपनी हस्ती
अगर वो तू नहीं तो और क्या है
नहीं आया ख़यालों में अगर तू
तो फिर मैं कैसे समझा तू ख़ुदा है
तुम इक गोरख धंदा हो
Meaning: Someone has lost himself in your search. In your love. In your lines. This lost one, is the only one who has found something. Self-consciousness is a disease. The Aim of all life is death, Says Freud. Says correctly. To be unconscious of oneself. and eventually to be unconscious in total. Death is so sweet.
Maro ae Jogi maro, maran hai Meetha. aisi marni maro, jis marni Gorakh reetha.
Not in temples, not in mosques, you find God. You can, but honestly, the primary reason you go to temples is for following a social custom, to depict the world your religiosity. To click pictures for Instagram. You do not even have self-consciousness. You do not even have concentrated ego. You derive ego from external sources. It is like, you are not even man, and you want to become woman? To be a woman is to become divine. Kali, Durga. The Female is God. When you see, when you witness a woman moaning, cannot you see Buddha on her face appearing? Cannot you see Shankar's Advaita on her face.
Your femininity is a facade. Your masculinity is non-existent. Be a man first and then claim femininity. Femininity is grander.
Only a broken heart can keep God forever. It is so weird that when he realizes that he has God in his heart, he cries. He cries like heaven and earth. He says, "What did I do for you to give me this gift? My heart has been a forsaken building, a haunted house". You came to live here. You made it heaven. You made it Baikunth.
मुझ को ख़्वाहिश ही ढूढ़ने की न थी
मुझ में खोया रहा ख़ुदा मेरा
~ Jaun Elia
So Godless is a broken heart and so Godly can it be. I cry for the Broken heart. You can achieve instantly what Yogis cannot even achieve after 100s of years of solitude and Tapasya.
"Adam" in Urdu means, non-existent. Hasht means Hasti, existence. Somewhere he hides in Adam, somewhere he reflects in existence.
The seeker says, if you do not exist, who am I denying? Denial is acceptance of your existence. The thing that I call "Myself", what is it if not you? If you did not exist, how did I conceive your idea?
Somebody says, God is an idea. He does not know god. He is a scholar, a pandit. He has no experience. Do not listen to him. God as an idea is so small, God in reality is so big, so grand.
हैरान हूँ
मैं हैरान हूँ इस बात पे तुम कौन हो क्या हो
हाथ आओ तो बुत हाथ न आओ तो ख़ुदा हो
अस्ल में जो मिल गया ला-इलाहा क्यूँ कर हुआ
जो समझ में आ गया फिर वो ख़ुदा क्यूँ कर हुआ
फ़लसफ़ी को बहस के अंदर ख़ुदा मिलता नहीं
डोर को सुलझा रहा है और सिरा मिलता नहीं
छुपते नहीं हो सामने आते नहीं हो तुम
जल्वा दिखा के जल्वा दिखाते नहीं हो तुम
दैर-ओ-हरम के झगड़े मिटाते नहीं हो तुम
जो अस्ल बात है वो बताते नहीं हो तुम
हैराँ हूँ मेरे दिल में समाए हो किस तरह
हालाँकि दो-जहाँ में समाते नहीं हो तुम
ये मा’बद-ओ-हरम ये किलीसा-ओ-दैर क्यूँ
हरजाई हो जभी तो बताते नहीं हो तुम
बस तुम इक गोरख धंदा हो
Meaning: Being taken aback, is the way of worshipping him? How can you genuinely behave in front of his being? Perplexed, is the way to behave. Surprise is his way. Miracle is his way. Not because he is special. He is commonest of all. But since, you cannot comprehend him, to witness him is so divine, I get surprised every time.
Hindu worship idols, Muslims invisible Allah. When I found you, why should I say, there is no God. I won't. How are you God if I can explain it to anyone like any daily philosophy.
Philosophers die arguing about God. He couldn't argue for or against. Why doesn't God do anything?
Why does not he resolve the fight of Temples and mosques? How can you hide in my heart, but this world remains small for you?
You are a rascal, God. That's why You don't come in open. I hate you. Only a devotee can hate God.
"You are world's worst God". He is angry. His anger is pure. Even Anger is God. He has forgotten reason. How many Gods are there? And there is no one other than God? What a frivolous statement! World's worst God! as if there are more than one or there is a world different from God. God is world.
The world is nirvana. The Samsara is nirvana. But this is between Bhakt and Bhagwan. This is not a political propaganda, that is, it is not a narrative. It is Leela. Krishna talks to his mother, Yashoda.
नित-नए नक़्श बनाते हो मिटा देते हो
जाने किस जुर्म-ए-तमन्ना की सज़ा देते हो
कभी कंकर को बना देते हो हीरे की कनी
कभी हीरों को भी मिट्टी में मिला देते हो
ज़िंदगी कितने ही मुर्दों को 'अता की जिस ने
वो मसीहा भी सलीबों पे सजा देते हो
ख़्वाहिश-ए-दीद जो कर बैठे सर-ए-तूर कोई
तूर ही बढ़ के तजल्ली से जला देते हो
नार-ए-नमरूद में डलवाते हो ख़ुद अपना ख़लील
ख़ुद ही फिर नार को गुलज़ार बना देते हो
चाह-ए-कन’आन में फेंको कभी माह-ए-कन’आँ
नूर याक़ूब की आँखों का बुझा देते हो
बेचो यूसुफ़ को कभी मिस्र के बाज़ारों में
आख़िर-ए-कार शह-ए-मिस्र बना देते हो
जज़्ब-ओ-मस्ती की जो मंज़िल पे पहुँचता है कोई
बैठ कर दिल में अनल-हक़ की सदा देते हो
ख़ुद ही लगवाते हो फिर कुफ़्र के फ़तवे उस पर
ख़ुद ही मंसूर को सूली पे चढ़ा देते हो
अपनी हस्ती भी वो इक रोज़ गँवा बैठता है
अपने दर्शन की लगन जिस को लगा देते हो
कोई राँझा जो कभी खोज में निकले तेरी
तुम उसे झंग के बेले में उड़ा देते हो
जुस्तुजू ले के तुम्हारी जो चले क़ैस कोई
इस को मज्नूँ किसी लैला का बना देते हो
जोत ससि के अगर मन में तुम्हारी जागे
तुम उसे तपते हुए थल में जला देते हो
सोहनी गर तुम को महिवाल तसव्वुर कर ले
इस को बिफरी हुई लहरों में बहा देते हो
ख़ुद जो चाहो तो सर-ए-'अर्श बुला कर महबूब
एक ही रात में मे'राज करा देते हो
तुम इक गोरख धंदा हो
Meaning: Shikwa, is a poem written by Iqbal to God where he complains to God about the world that he made. This is a list of complains, Bhakt has for Bhagwan. Iqbal can complain. You can't. Iqbal is a Bhakt. You are not. Iqbal can suffer anything his Allah gives him without complains. You cannot. That is the reason why All of Iqbal's complains are for the oppressed. He does not want anything for himself. He wants for those who suffer. For the marginalized. He begins...The Bhakt begins to complain...
Why this world is transitory?
Why everything comes and goes?
Why nothing is permanent?
Why diamonds perish?
Why stones turn out to be diamonds?
Why Turtle wins the race and Rabbit loses?
Why you hung Jesus on a cross who gave lives to the dead?
Why you burnt the Messiah, Moses, on the cliff when he desired your gaze?
Why you made feminine divine? Why not men?
Why Yusuf got sold in the markets of Misr (Egypt)?
Why then, he becomes Lord of Misr, when he was a slave?
Why you make the truth so ecstatic? That Al hillaj bin Mansur shouts, "Anhal haq"
or "I am the truth!".
Then, why you declared him Kafir and hung him to death?
Why the Bhakt has to lose himself who wishes to see you, gaze you?
Why a Ranjha gets lost while finding his Heer?
Why you distract a Majnu with a Laila?
Why your devotees have to suffer so much?
Why A sohni dies for his Mahiwal? Why she has to drown in waves of sea?
And then, If you are so mysterious? Why the hell? When you want, you can transform anyone's life and make him enlightened in a night? In a second? Why the fuck?
That's why the Seeker concludes, You are a risky business. A fraud business. I hate you. I love you. I cannot ignore you. You are my today, tomorrow, everything.
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