Ang-51 — Chapter 18
I offer my mind and body, and I renounce my selfishness and conceit; I walk in Harmony with the Will of the True Guru.
I am forever a sacrifice to my Guru, who has attached my consciousness to the Lord. ||7||
He alone is a Brahmin, who knows the Lord Brahma, and is attuned to the Love of the Lord.
God is close at hand; He dwells deep within the hearts of all. How rare are those who, as Gurmukh, know Him.
O Nanak, through the Naam, greatness is obtained; through the Word of the Guru's Shabad, He is realized. ||8||5||22||
Siree Raag, Third Mehl:
Everyone longs to be centered and balanced, but without the Guru, no one can.
The Pandits and the astrologers read and read until they grow weary, while the fanatics are deluded by doubt.
Meeting with the Guru, intuitive balance is obtained, when God, in His Will, grants His Grace. ||1||
O Siblings of Destiny, without the Guru, intuitive balance is not obtained.
Through the Word of the Shabad, intuitive peace and poise wells up, and that True Lord is obtained. ||1||Pause||
That which is sung intuitively is acceptable; without this intuition, all chanting is useless.
In the state of intuitive balance, devotion wells up. In intuitive balance, love is balanced and detached.
In the state of intuitive balance, peace and tranquility are produced. Without intuitive balance, life is useless. ||2||
In the state of intuitive balance, praise the Lord forever and ever. With intuitive ease, embrace Samaadhi.
In the state of intuitive balance, chant His Glories, lovingly absorbed in devotional worship.
Through the Shabad, the Lord dwells within the mind, and the tongue tastes the Sublime Essence of the Lord. ||3||
In the poise of intuitive balance, death is destroyed, entering the Sanctuary of the True One.
Intuitively balanced, the Name of the Lord dwells within the mind, practicing the lifestyle of Truth.
Those who have found Him are very fortunate; they remain intuitively absorbed in Him. ||4||
Within Maya, the poise of intuitive balance is not produced. Maya leads to the love of duality.
The self-willed manmukhs perform religious rituals, but they are burnt down by their selfishness and conceit.
Their births and deaths do not cease; over and over again, they come and go in reincarnation. ||5||
In the three qualities, intuitive balance is not obtained; the three qualities lead to delusion and doubt.
What is the point of reading, studying and debating, if one loses his roots?
In the fourth state, there is intuitive balance; the Gurmukhs gather it in. ||6||
The Naam, the Name of the Formless Lord, is the treasure. Through intuitive balance, understanding is obtained.
The virtuous praise the True One; their reputation is true.
The wayward are united with God through intuitive balance; through the Shabad, union is obtained. ||7||
Without intuitive balance, all are blind. Emotional attachment to Maya is utter darkness.
In intuitive balance, understanding of the True, Infinite Shabad is obtained.
Granting forgiveness, the Perfect Guru unites us with the Creator. ||8||
In intuitive balance, the Unseen is recognized-the Fearless, Luminous, Formless Lord.
There is only the One Giver of all beings. He blends our light with His Light.
So praise God through the Perfect Word of His Shabad; He has no end or limitation. ||9||
Those who are wise take the Naam as their wealth; with intuitive ease, they trade with Him.
Night and day, they receive the Profit of the Lord's Name, which is an inexhaustible and over-flowing treasure.
O Nanak, when the Great Giver gives, nothing at all is lacking. ||10||6||23||
✦ 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.”