Ang-501 — Chapter 52
The self-willed manmukh is emotionally attached to Maya - he has no love for the Naam.
He practices falsehood, gathers in falsehood, and makes falsehood his sustenance.
He collects the poisonous wealth of Maya, and then dies; in the end, it is all reduced to ashes.
He practices religious rituals, purity and austere self-discipline, but within, there is greed and corruption.
O Nanak, whatever the self-willed manmukh does, is not acceptable; in the Court of the Lord, he is dishonored. ||2||
Pauree:
He Himself created the four sources of creation, and He Himself fashioned speech; He Himself formed the worlds and solar systems.
He Himself is the ocean, and He Himself is the sea; He Himself puts the pearls in it.
By His Grace, the Lord enables the Gurmukh to find these pearls.
He Himself is the terrifying world-ocean, and He Himself is the boat; He Himself is the boatman, and He Himself ferries us across.
The Creator Himself acts, and causes us to act; no one else can equal You, Lord. ||9||
Salok, Third Mehl:
Fruitful is service to the True Guru, if one does so with a sincere mind.
The treasure of the Naam, is obtained, and the mind comes to be free of anxiety.
The pains of birth and death are eradicated, and the mind is rid of egotism and self-conceit.
One achieves the ultimate state, and remains absorbed in the True Lord.
O Nanak, the True Guru comes and meets those who have such pre-ordained destiny. ||1||
Third Mehl:
The True Guru is imbued with the Naam, the Name of the Lord; He is the boat in this Dark Age of Kali Yuga.
One who becomes Gurmukh crosses over; the True Lord dwells within him.
He remembers the Naam, he gathers in the Naam, and he obtains honor through the Naam.
Nanak has found the True Guru; by His Grace, the Name is obtained. ||2||
Pauree:
He Himself is the Philosopher's Stone, He Himself is the metal, and He Himself is transformed into gold.
He Himself is the Lord and Master, He Himself is the servant, and He Himself is the Destroyer of sins.
He Himself enjoys every heart; the Lord Master Himself is the basis of all illusion.
He Himself is the discerning one, and He Himself is the Knower of all; He Himself breaks the bonds of the Gurmukhs.
Servant Nanak is not satisfied by merely praising You, O Creator Lord; You are the Great Giver of peace. ||10||
Salok, Fourth Mehl:
Without serving the True Guru, the deeds which are done are only chains binding the soul.
Without serving the True Guru, they find no place of rest. They die, only to be born again - they continue coming and going.
Without serving the True Guru, their speech is insipid. They do not enshrine the Naam, the Name of the Lord, in the mind.
O Nanak, without serving the True Guru, they are bound and gagged, and beaten in the City of Death; they depart with blackened faces. ||1||
Third Mehl:
Some wait upon and serve the True Guru; they embrace love for the Lord's Name.
O Nanak, they reform their lives, and redeem their generations as well. ||2||
Pauree:
He Himself is the school, He Himself is the teacher, and He Himself brings the students to be taught.
He Himself is the father, He Himself is the mother, and He Himself makes the children wise.
In one place, He teaches them to read and understand everything, while in another place, He Himself makes them ignorant.
Some, You summon to the Mansion of Your Presence within, when they are pleasing to Your Mind, O True Lord.
✦ 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.”