ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਹਿ॥

Sadh Sangat Ji, today we will be discussing the dangers of indulging in sweets or sugar. Before we get started we want to be clear that sugar in its purest form is not bad, for example having fruits or degh etc. Instead we are talking about those foods that have addictive properties in them like candy and chocolate bars. We are not nutritionists or dieticians either so we urge you to consult them for your health needs according to sugar needs. This blog is simply about the risks these sweets can have on our mind and connection with Guru Sahib Ji. We will also end with the truest form of sweetness - Gurbani Ji and how it will never result in diseases or pain in our life. Let’s start off with the bani pankti: 

Negative 

1. ਮਿਠਾ ਕਰਿ ਕੈ ਖਾਇਆ ਕਉੜਾ ਉਪਜਿਆ ਸਾਦੁ ॥

People eat what they believe to be sweet, but it turns out to be bitter in taste.

Sakhi: Once M1 went to Lahore where they met a loving shardaloo gursikh - Bhai Duni Chand Ji. Bhai Sahib was celebrating their father’s death anniversary and wanted to have M1 for a langar in their memory. At this langar they served Guru Ji Kheer. Guru Ji asked will this kheer reach your father? And he said IDK, you are God, only you would know if it would, would it? Guru Ji said your father is south and reincarnated as a wolf, and has been starving for 3 days. Go to him and feed him your kheer. Duni Chand accepted the hukam and left. He finally arrived and saw his father in a wolf form, when his father saw him he was able to shift back to human form. Duni Chand was shocked and asked what was the purpose of shape shifting? His father said at the end of my life our neighbour was cooking fish, and my entire life I loved eating fish, even at the end of my life I wished for nothing but the taste of meat. This is why I had to be reborn as an animal that eats meat like a wolf. But because I got to see you based on Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s bachan I have been saved and been able to shift back to human form to now go to heaven. Go home now, you have the true form of Akal Purakh Vaheguru residing at your home, go do their seva and you will have a fruitful life. Duni Chand returned home and fell to Guru Ji’s charan, he began to ask Guru Sahib for a seva. Guru Ji told him to take this needle and take care of it, Guru Ji said I will ask for it back in parlok, the after life. Duni Chand said satbachan and took it to his wife to care for. His intelligent wife said when we die we cannot even take our body with us how will we take this needle for Guru Ji? Guru Ji explained to Duni Chand, that if we cannot even take a tiny little needle, how will we take all of our other belongings? Instead we should share it with the poor and meditate on Guru Sahib Ji. Duni Chand accepted this hukam and began sharing his fortune to everyone and started to do simran. 

Moral: So overall the moral of this story is that his father saw food as ਮਿਠਾ, or Duni Chand did see money as ਮਿਠਾ, but his father was given a ਕਉੜਾ punishment of being reborn as a wolf, and Duni Chand would have been given a ਕਉੜਾ punishment involving money. So for us we just be aware of the dangers of indulging in food for taste like sugars which have addicting components in it because we too will be given a ਕਉੜਾ punishment for it in the future. None of these tastes will go with us when we die, they don’t even last longer than a few minutes after eating them. So instead we should focus our time and energy on simran and sewa which have an eternal blessing for us in this world and in the next. 

So, when we eat sweets we begin to get addicted to them because of the properties in them. It’s said that many candy companies also test how many candy bars we can eat before getting full versus a whole food diet. It’s quite large by the way. We can eat way more candy bars versus a simple meal like daal parshada with the same amount of calories. What we fail to notice is that these foods may seem sweet and tasty in the moment but in the long run they make us very ill. Sometimes it’s not even long term, we can actually experience the sickness moments after over indulging in sweets. 

2. ਮਿਠਾ ਕਰਿ ਕੈ ਖਾਇਆ ਪਿਆਰੇ ਤਿਨਿ ਤਨਿ ਕੀਤਾ ਰੋਗੁ ॥
He thinks that his food is so sweet, O Beloved, but it makes his body ill.

Guru Ji even says: 

3. ਜੇ ਮਨ ਜਾਣਹਿ ਸੂਲੀਆ ਕਾਹੇ ਮਿਠਾ ਖਾਹਿ ॥੩॥
O mind, if you only knew the torment in your future, you would not relish the sweet pleasures of the present. ||3||

But the truth is we do know the dangers of indulging in sweets, our doctors are always telling us the greatest medicine is a clean diet and exercise. I know we are all well aware of the health complications that can occur from eating excessive amounts of sugars but for some reason it doesn’t stop us. This is because we don’t think too far into the future. We may be experiencing diabetes right now but maybe in a few years we will and then we will regret our eating habits now. But sangat jee why should we wait for the pain? Why not begin healthy eating habits now so that we can remain strong for a longer time and use our time to do our seva and simran? This is a question we must all reflect on. 

Guru Sahib Ji repeats themselves several times with the same questions many times in gurbani. Probably because they knew we wouldn’t take it seriously from listening to it once. And it’s true health care workers are constantly telling us as well yet we seem to wait for the worst to happen to finally make the change. 

4. ਜੇ ਸਉ ਵਰ੍ਰਿਆ ਮਿਠਾ ਖਾਜੈ ਭੀ ਫਿਰਿ ਕਉੜਾ ਖਾਇ ॥ ਮਿਠਾ ਖਾਧਾ ਚਿਤਿ ਨ ਆਵੈ ਕਉੜਤਣੁ ਧਾਇ ਜਾਇ ॥ ਮਿਠਾ ਕਉੜਾ ਦੋਵੈ ਰੋਗ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਅੰਤਿ ਵਿਗੁਤੇ ਭੋਗ ॥
You may eat sweets for a hundred years, but eventually, you will have to eat the bitter as well. Then, you will not remember eating the sweets; bitterness will permeate you. The sweet and the bitter are both diseases. O Nanak, eating them, you will come to ruin in the end.

5. ਬਹੁ ਸਾਦਹੁ ਦੂਖੁ ਪਰਾਪਤਿ ਹੋਵੈ ॥ ਭੋਗਹੁ ਰੋਗ ਸੁ ਅੰਤਿ ਵਿਗੋਵੈ ॥
For his excessive indulgences, he receives only pain; From his enjoyments, he contracts diseases, and in the end, he wastes away.

Why do we care so much about sweets though? Why does Guru Sahib keep on repeating themselves and warning us? Because these sweets are distracting us from forgetting Guru Sahib Ji. Guru Sahib Ji says: 

6. ਖਸਮੁ ਵਿਸਾਰਿ ਕੀਏ ਰਸ ਭੋਗ ॥ ਤਾਂ ਤਨਿ ਉਠਿ ਖਲੋਏ ਰੋਗ ॥
Forgetting his Lord and Master, the mortal enjoys sensual pleasures; Then, disease rises up in his body.

Sakhi: Once Guru Nanak Dev Ji returned to their home in Nankana Sahib but were in Vairaag Avastha and for this reason they were not talking to anyone, eating, or drinking anything. Their mother, Mata Tripta Ji, became worried and believed Guru Ji was sick. Other members of the community also told Mata Ji and Bhai Kaliyaan Chand that they only had one son and they should really make sure he is ok and not sick. Bhai Kaliyaan Chand Ji told their younger brother Bhai Laal Chand to take Guru Ji to a doctor named  Hardaas. The doctor took Guru Ji’s pulse and asked what pain are you experiencing? Guru Ji asked what have you found? The doctor said I have found that you have symptoms of a flu but I will give you a remedy for it. Guru Ji said “Doctor, you yourself are in pain and suffering, how will you give me a remedy? The doctor asked Guru Ji “what pain and suffering do I have? Guru Ji replied with this shabad. 

Moral: We may try to find all the remedies in the world to get better from illnesses but the greatest disease we will experience is when we forget our Guru. Indulging in things for sweet taste like sugar will only make us forget our Guru more and new diseases will arise like diabetes, high blood pressure, weight gain, heart attack and stroke. Guru Ji is explaining that we already have to fight the greatest disease of forgetting Waheguru Ji as is, so we must be even more alert and not allow ourselves to get sicker by getting stuck in tastes and other diseases. 

So now that we know the negatives of eating sweets, Guru Sahib also tells us the sweets we can consume for a positive happy life. 

Positive

1. ਬਿਖੈ ਕਉੜਤਣਿ ਸਗਲ ਮਾਹਿ ਜਗਤਿ ਰਹੀ ਲਪਟਾਇ ॥ ਨਾਨਕ ਜਨਿ ਵੀਚਾਰਿਆ ਮੀਠਾ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਉ ॥੨॥
The bitter poison of corruption is everywhere; it clings to the substance of the world. O Nanak, the humble being has realized that the Name of the Lord alone is sweet. ||2||

Guru Ji explains that there is already so much maya in this world, it will come in many forms to distract us from our mission here on earth, it will cling on to us. Indulging in the taste of sweets is one of those distractions. Guru Ji explains that  ਨਾਨਕ ਜਨਿ ਵੀਚਾਰਿਆ ਮੀਠਾ ਹਰਿ ਕਾ ਨਾਉ ॥੨॥ Those gurmukh pyare have understood that to remove these poisons they must instead indulge in the true sweetness of naam simran. 

2. ਅਵਰਿ ਸਾਦ ਚਖਿ ਸਗਲੇ ਦੇਖੇ ਮਨ ਹਰਿ ਰਸੁ ਸਭ ਤੇ ਮੀਠਾ ਜੀਉ ॥੧॥
I have seen and tasted all other flavors, but to my mind, the Subtle Essence of the Lord is the sweetest of all. ||1||

Guru Ji explains that Amrit Naam will always be pure, there are no negative effects of it.   Compared to sweets that have a momentary pleasure and a long term negative effect. Naam simran will bless us with happiness and will even destroy our pain. Guru Ji says ਅਵਰਿ ਸਾਦ ਚਖਿ ਸਗਲੇ ਦੇਖੇ I have seen all the other pleasures in the world but Pyare Ji, the name of gurbani ji is truly the sweetest of all. 

3. ਸਭ ਰਸ ਮੀਠੇ ਮੁਖਿ ਲਗਹਿ ਜਾ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਣ ਗਾਵੈ ॥
Their mouths savor all the sweet delicacies when they sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord.

When we sing gurbani Ji we will taste the sweetest taste possible in the world. This sweet simran will save us and award us with a happy life. 

So sadh sangat Ji, let us all try to reduce our sweets intake and instead increase of gurbani intake. Let us become strong gursikhs so that we can live a long and happy life full of seva and simran.

Let's indulge in Gurbani Ji rather then the tastes of the tongue! Start your journey today. Start by leaving sugar filled drinks for 1 week, or something else that you can easily stop. Share your progress with us on instagram @gursevaksevadar.

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