Hukam or Divine will

whisper of the soul or voice of the conscience. In Hindi, it is called ज़मीर की आवाज़.

Khoji has written the following points on the voice of conscience:

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(Punjabi Essay No. 22) So long as we hear and obey the silent whisper of our Inner Soul, we will be out of reach of the clutches of the ‘Karmic Law’. This silent whisper, called conscience, warns us, within ourselves, against any digression of Divine Law.

(Punjabi Essay No. 58) It is important to mention here that with the meeting of ‘word-consciousness’, the ‘ethical sense’ or ‘voice of the soul’ continues to become strong and knowledgeable. This voice continuously creates various divine motivations and desires in the truth seeker and stops him from moving towards low desires every moment. The internal Divine voice of the conscience is extremely helpful in ‘carving’ the
mystical awareness
understanding
mind
intellect
character
of the truth seeker.

ਤਿਥੈ ਘੜੀਐ ਸੁਰਤਿ ਮਤਿ ਮਨਿ ਬੁਧਿ ॥
ਤਿਥੈ ਘੜੀਐ ਸੁਰਾ ਸਿਧਾ ਕੀ ਸੁਧਿ ॥੩੬॥
The intuitive consciousness, intellect and understanding of the mind are shaped there. 
The consciousness of the spiritual warriors and the Siddhas, the beings of spiritual perfection, are shaped there. 

It is clear from this discussion that the voice of the ‘ethical sense’ or ‘soul’, has deep connections with the meeting of ‘word-consciousness’, and are interwoven with one another. This voice of the ‘ethical sense’ can also be heard in the innermost consciousness through the mystical awareness. With the union of ‘Word-consciousness’, all the spiritual virtues of the Divine sphere enter and become active in man’s mind, body, memory, intellect and he becomes he becomes a ‘fortunate being’ and a ‘Gurmukh’.

(English Essay: Divine Will)  Other creatures of the Universe just cannot ignore or disobey the dictates of their inner instincts. Therefore, they are naturally and unconsciously working “in-tune” with the Divine Will; thus, they work for upward evolution of their souls.

Being sincere and honest to their “inner dictates”, they are saved from the clutches and slavery of the Demon of ‘Maya’ and the implication of Karmic Law.

All creatures (except man) have one Universal Common Religion of total surrender and allegiance to their ‘inner instinct’, which they follow unconsciously. This universal religion is ‘inherent and in-laid’ in each species of creation, and requires no outside preaching.

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Frankly, I used to wonder, “how do we know what Hukam is, in all conditions of life?”. A regular person plays different roles: of a household, a citizen, a businessman or an employee, a friend etc. In these roles, a person comes across different situations, many of them seemingly unrelated to spirituality or religion. I used to wonder how can one follow Hukam in those situations. The above understanding of Hukam as the voice of the soul or the conscience is the answer to my questions.

This state of surrendering to the universe/Hukam is also called “allowing” the universe to work through us. Regarding following the Hukam, I also like Anita Moorjani’s explanation on “allowing”:

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“You know how I often talk about “allowing” our lives to unfold on their own, rather than “chasing and pursuing”?  Chasing and pursuing is what most of us seem conditioned to do, and one of the questions I get asked often is, “If we ‘allow our lives to unfold’ on their own, does that mean we don’t do anything? That we just sit and wait for life to happen to us?”

To me, allowing does not mean just sitting and waiting and doing nothing. We still take action, but the action comes from following our heart, and from allowing things to unfold. It comes from a different place.

To me, allowing means listening to my intuition. The way I do this is by asking myself, “Am I doing this out of love or fear? Am I doing this because I want to do this?” In other words, am I taking these actions because I love myself, it’s fun, it brings me joy and is pleasurable? Or am I taking these actions because I fear the consequences of not doing so?

The things I do out of love, passion, interest, curiosity, fun and so on, are from the heart, and to me, this is the state of “allowing”. It means allowing myself to be who I am; taking action from my heart. Actions taken from my heart are always aligned with my authentic self. The things I do out of “fear of the consequences” are from the mind. These actions feel forced and are often driven by insecurity or fear. Feeling stress is a signal that our actions are coming from a place of fear. Stress comes in when we are doing things that are not aligned with who we truly are.”

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So, Anita is saying that we should do things which bring us joy and peace, rather than do things out of fear. Now, when you follow Hukam, which is the projection of love, joy, and peace, you’ll experience all its associated virtues of love, joy, and peace. Thus, any activity which brings joy and peace is inherently in line with Hukam. There is obviously one point of serious caution: we may confuse joy with pleasure. The differences between joy and pleasure are many, but the two main differences are:

1. Joy comes from within while pleasure comes from without. So, an activity is joyful if you can do it even if you don’t get paid for it and even when no one sees you doing it.
2. Joy can never come from harming another person or being. Since, joy is a divine quality, it is universal in nature. Therefore, joy for one person cannot come at the cost of the suffering of another. Pleasure for one person can come at the cost of pain for another. For example: you may take pleasure in hurting someone or harassing a girl.

Look at your feelings. If you find an activity inherently joyful and worthy, do it. This is what your soul wants to do.

Abraham Hicks has written the following points about…….Continue reading