Ang-1201 — Chapter 45
By Guru's Grace, the heart is illumined, and darkness is dispelled.
Iron is transformed into gold, when it touches the Philosopher's Stone.
O Nanak, meeting with the True Guru, the Name is obtained. Meeting Him, the mortal meditates on the Name.
Those who have virtue as their treasure, obtain the Blessed Vision of His Darshan. ||19||
Salok, First Mehl:
Cursed are the lives of those who read and write the Lord's Name to sell it.
Their crop is devastated - what harvest will they have?
Lacking truth and humility, they shall not be appreciated in the world hereafter.
Wisdom which leads to arguments is not called wisdom.
Wisdom leads us to serve our Lord and Master; through wisdom, honor is obtained.
Wisdom does not come by reading textbooks; wisdom inspires us to give in charity.
Says Nanak, this is the Path; other things lead to Satan. ||1||
Second Mehl:
Mortals are known by their actions; this is the way it has to be.
They should show goodness, and not be deformed by their actions; this is how they are called beautiful.
Whatever they desire, they shall receive; O Nanak, they become the very image of God. ||2||
Pauree:
The True Guru is the tree of ambrosia. it bears the fruit of sweet nectar.
He alone receives it, who is so pre-destined, through the Word of the Guru's Shabad.
One who walks in harmony with the Will of the True Guru, is blended with the Lord.
The Messenger of Death cannot even see him; his heart is illumined with God's Light.
O Nanak, God forgives him, and blends him with Himself; he does not rot away in the womb of reincarnation ever again. ||20||
Salok, First Mehl:
Those who have truth as their fast, contentment as their sacred shrine of pilgrimage, spiritual wisdom and meditation as their cleansing bath,
kindness as their deity, and forgiveness as their chanting beads - they are the most excellent people.
Those who take the Way as their loincloth, and intuitive awareness their ritualistically purified enclosure, with good deeds their ceremonial forehead mark,
and love their food - O Nanak, they are very rare. ||1||
Third Mehl:
On the ninth day of the month, make a vow to speak the Truth,
and your sexual desire, anger and desire shall be eaten up.
On the tenth day, regulate your ten doors; on the eleventh day, know that the Lord is One.
On the twelfth day, the five thieves are subdued, and then, O Nanak, the mind is pleased and appeased.
Observe such a fast as this, O Pandit, O religious scholar; of what use are all the other teachings? ||2||
Pauree:
Kings, rulers and monarchs enjoy pleasures and gather the poison of Maya.
In love with it, they collect more and more, stealing the wealth of others.
They do not trust their own children or spouses; they are totally attached to the love of Maya.
But even as they look on, Maya cheats them, and they come to regret and repent.
Bound and gagged at Death's door, they are beaten and punished; O Nanak, it pleases the Will of the Lord. ||21||
Salok, First Mehl:
The one who lacks spiritual wisdom sings religious songs.
The hungry Mullah turns his home into a mosque.
The lazy unemployed has his ears pierced to look like a Yogi.
Someone else becomes a pan-handler, and loses his social status.
One who calls himself a guru or a spiritual teacher, while he goes around begging
- don't ever touch his feet.
One who works for what he eats, and gives some of what he has
- O Nanak, he knows the Path. ||1||
✦ 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.”