This is an excellent analogy:

He mentioned that at one time, a young child went to a Sikh Saint, and stated that no, matter how hard he tried to keep Gurbani in his heart, he just could not understand or keep it. He stated that his mind was not a bucket, but a strainer, which let everything pass through and did not contain the meaning of gurbani.

The saint said "let us try an experiment. Here is a strainer, and here is some water, and pour a bucket of water through the strainer. " The child did this and said " see the water was not contained, it just passed through, my mind is just like this". The saint said. " Do it once more" , he did, and still the water passed through the strainer. The saint said. " Do it ten times at least". The child did, and at the end of this experiment, he said " See water still passes through, no matter how many times , and how many buckets we pass through it" . The saint said. " Look carefully at the strainer and see if there is any thing different." The child did, and his eyes were filled with tears, and he said. "Yes, i see the differnce now, the grimy dirty strainer is now shiny and bright, like never before.

The saint said. " My son, this is what Gurbani does for you, it cleans your mind, and even if you do not realize it, it slowly cleanses your mind, and protects you from the five vices. The more you recite Gurbani, your mind will not only become shinier, but become like the bucket itself, which will not only become clean , but hold the meaning of Gurbani in your heart"

The child smiled, and felt he had received the best example of the power of Gurbani, ever.

Frankly, we are no different than the child.
As long as we try to recite Gurbani, and understand the meaning, we too will find strength and control to overcome the five vices. Waheguru.....

Labels: Analogy, Gurbani