Ang-1301 — Chapter 43
The wandering mind is restrained and held in its place.
The True Name is enshrined in the mind. ||4||
The exciting and intoxicating worldly plays come to an end,
for those who accept the Guru's Teachings, and become lovingly attuned to the One Lord.
Seeing this, the fire in the water is extinguished.
They alone realize this, who are blessed by great good fortune. ||5||
Serving the True Guru, doubt is dispelled.
Those who are lovingly attuned to the True Lord remain awake and aware night and day.
They know the One Lord, and no other.
Serving the Giver of peace, they become immaculate. ||6||
Selfless service and intuitive awareness come by reflecting upon the Word of the Shabad.
Chanting, intensive meditation and austere self-discipline come by subduing the ego.
One becomes Jivan-mukta - liberated while yet alive, by listening to the Shabad.
Living a truthful way of life, one finds true peace. ||7||
The Giver of peace is the Eradicator of pain.
I cannot conceive of serving any other.
I place my body, mind and wealth in offering before Him.
Says Nanak, I have tasted the supreme, sublime Essence of the Lord. ||8||2||
Prabhaatee, First Mehl:
You may perform exercises of inner purification, and fire up the furnace of the Kundalini, inhaling and exhaling and holding the breath.
Without the True Guru, you will not understand; deluded by doubt, you shall drown and die.
The spiritually blind are filled with filth and pollution; they may wash, but the filth within shall never depart.
Without the Naam, the Name of the Lord, all their actions are useless, like the magician who deceives through illuions. ||1||
The merits of the six religious rituals are obtained through the Immaculate Naam.
You, O Lord, are the Ocean of virtue; I am so unworthy. ||1||Pause||
Running around chasing the entanglements of Maya is an evil-minded act of corruption.
The fool makes a show of his self-conceit; he does not know how to behave.
The self-willed manmukh is enticed by his desires for Maya; his words are useless and empty.
The ritual cleansings of the sinner are fradulent; his rituals and decorations are useless and empty. ||2||
False is the wisdom of the mind; its actions inspire useless disputes.
The false are filled with egotism; they do not obtain the sublime taste of their Lord and Master.
Without the Name, whatever else they do is tasteless and insipid.
Associating with their enemies, they are plundered and ruined. Their speech is poison, and their lives are useless. ||3||
Do not be deluded by doubt; do not invite your own death.
Serve the True Guru, and you shall be at peace forever.
Without the True Guru, no one is liberated.
They come and go in reincarnation; they die, only to be reborn and die again. ||4||
This body wanders, caught in the three dispositions.
It is afflicted by sorrow and suffering.
So serve the One who has no mother or father.
Desire and selfishness shall depart from within. ||5||
Wherever I look, I see Him.
Without meeting the True Guru, no one is liberated.
Enshrine the True One in your heart; this is the most excellent action.
All other hypocritical actions and devotions bring only ruin. ||6||
When one is rid of duality, then he realizes the Word of the Shabad.
Inside and out, he knows the One Lord.
This is the most Excellent Wisdom of the Shabad.
Ashes fall on the heads of those who are in duality. ||7||
To praise the Lord through the Guru's Teachings is the most excellent action.
In the Society of the Saints, contemplate the Glories of God and His spiritual wisdom.
Whoever subdues his mind, knows the state of being dead while yet alive.
O Nanak, by His Grace, the Gracious Lord is realized. ||8||3||
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”
Psalm 23:1
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
Luke 6:36
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Snp 1.8
“As a mother would risk her life to protect her child, her only child, even so should one cultivate a limitless heart with regard to all beings.”
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.”