Ang-1101 — Chapter 26
Without the True Word of the Shabad, you shall never be released, and your life shall be totally useless. ||1||Pause||
Within the body are sexual desire, anger, egotism and attachment. This pain is so great, and so difficult to endure.
As Gurmukh, chant the Lord's Name, and savor it with your tongue; in this way, you shall cross over to the other side. ||2||
Your ears are deaf, and your intellect is worthless, and still, you do not intuitively understand the Word of the Shabad.
The self-willed manmukh wastes this priceless human life and loses it. Without the Guru, the blind person cannot see. ||3||
Whoever remains detached and free of desire in the midst of desire - and whoever, unattached, intuitively meditates on the Celestial Lord
- prays Nanak, as Gurmukh, he is released. He is lovingly attuned to the Naam, the Name of the Lord. ||4||||2||3||
Bhairao, First Mehl:
His walk becomes weak and clumsy, his feet and hands shake, and the skin of his body is withered and wrinkled.
His eyes are dim, his ears are deaf, and yet, the self-willed manmukh does not know the Naam. ||1||
O blind man, what have you obtained by coming into the world?
The Lord is not in your heart, and you do not serve the Guru. After wasting your capital, you shall have to depart. ||1||Pause||
Your tongue is not imbued with the Love of the Lord; whatever you say is tasteless and insipid.
You indulge in slander of the Saints; becoming a beast, you shall never be noble. ||2||
Only a few obtain the sublime essence of the Ambrosial Amrit, united in Union with the True Guru.
As long as the mortal does not come to understand the mystery of the Shabad, the Word of God, he shall continue to be tormented by death. ||3||
Whoever finds the door of the One True Lord, does not know any other house or door.
By Guru's Grace, I have obtained the supreme status; so says poor Nanak. ||4||3||4||
Bhairao, First Mehl:
He spends the entire night in sleep; the noose is tied around his neck. His day is wasted in worldly entanglements.
He does not know God, who created this world, for a moment, for even an instant. ||1||
O mortal, how will you escape this terrible disaster?
What did you bring with you, and what will you take away? Meditate on the Lord, the Most Worthy and Generous Lord. ||1||Pause||
The heart-lotus of the self-willed manmukh is upside-down; his intellect is shallow; his mind is blind, and his head is entangled in worldly affairs.
Death and re-birth constantly hang over your head; without the Name, your neck shall be caught in the noose. ||2||
Your steps are unsteady, and your eyes are blind; you are not aware of the Word of the Shabad, O Sibling of Destiny.
The Shaastras and the Vedas keep the mortal bound to the three modes of Maya, and so he performs his deeds blindly. ||3||
He loses his capital - how can he earn any profit? The evil-minded person has no spiritual wisdom at all.
Contemplating the Shabad, he drinks in the sublime essence of the Lord; O Nanak, his faith is confirmed in the Truth. ||4||4||5||
Bhairao, First Mehl:
He remains with the Guru, day and night, and his tongue savors the savory taste of the Lord's Love.
He does not know any other; he realizes the Word of the Shabad. He knows and realizes the Lord deep within his own being. ||1||
Such a humble person is pleasing to my mind.
He conquers his self-conceit, and is imbued with the Infinite Lord. He serves the Guru. ||1||Pause||
Deep within my being, and outside as well, is the Immaculate Lord God. I bow humbly before that Primal Lord God.
Deep within each and every heart, and amidst all, the Embodiment of Truth is permeating and pervading. ||2||
✦ 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.”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
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.”