Ang-1001 — Chapter 87
Meeting with a virtuous person, virtue is obtained, and one is immersed in the True Guru.
Priceless virtues are not obtained for any price; they cannot be purchased in a store.
O Nanak, their weight is full and perfect; it never decreases at all. ||1||
Fourth Mehl:
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, they wander around, continually coming and going in reincarnation.
Some are in bondage, and some are set free; some are happy in the Love of the Lord.
O Nanak, believe in the True Lord, and practice Truth, through the lifestyle of Truth. ||2||
Pauree:
From the Guru, I have obtained the supremely powerful sword of spiritual wisdom.
I have cut down the fortress of duality and doubt, attachment, greed and egotism.
The Name of the Lord abides within my mind; I contemplate the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
Through Truth, self-discipline and sublime understanding, the Lord has become very dear to me.
Truly, truly, the True Creator Lord is all-pervading. ||1||
Salok, Third Mehl:
Among the ragas, Kaydaaraa Raga is known as good, O Siblings of Destiny, if through it, one comes to love the Word of the Shabad,
and if one remains in the Soceity of the Saints, and enshrines love for the True Lord.
Such a person washes away the pollution from within, and saves his generations as well.
He gathes in the capital of virtue, and destroys and drives out unvirtuous sins.
O Nanak, he alone is known as united, who does not forsake his Guru, and who does not love duality. ||1||
Fourth Mehl:
Gazing upon the world-ocean, I am afraid of death; but if I live in the Fear of You, God, then I am not afraid.
Through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, I am content; O Nanak, I blossom forth in the Name. ||2||
Fourth Mehl:
I get on board the boat and set out, but the ocean is churning with waves.
The boat of Truth encounters no obstruction, if the Guru gives encouragement.
He takes us across to the door on the other side, as the Guru keeps watch.
O Nanak, if I am blessed with His Grace, I shall go to His Court with honor. ||3||
Pauree:
Enjoy your kingdom of bliss; as Gurmukh, practice Truth.
Sitting upon the throne of Truth, the Lord administers justice; He unites us in Union with the Society of the Saints.
Meditating on the Lord, through the True Teachings, we become just like the Lord.
If the Lord, the Giver of peace, abides in the mind, in this world, then in the end, He becomes our help and support.
Love for the Lord wells up, when the Guru imparts understanding. ||2||
Salok, First Mehl:
Confused and deluded, I wander around, but no one shows me the way.
I go and ask the clever people, if there is there anyone who can rid me of my pain.
If the True Guru abides within my mind, then I see the Lord, my best friend, there.
O Nanak, my mind is satisfied and fulfilled, contemplating the Praises of the True Name. ||1||
Third Mehl:
He Himself is the Doer, and He is the deed; He Himself issues the Command.
He Himself forgives some, and He Himself does the deed.
O Nanak, receiving the Divine Light from the Guru, suffering and corruption are burnt away, through the Name. ||2||
Pauree:
Don't be fooled by gazing at the riches of Maya, you foolish self-willed manmukh.
It shall not go along with you when you must depart; all the wealth you see is false.
The blind and ignorant do not understand, that the sword of death is hanging over their heads.
By Guru's Grace, those who drink in the sublime essence of the Lord are saved.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
The Path to Wisdom
Proverbs 4:7
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”