Ang-801 — Chapter 31
Know that Yoga and sacrificial feasts are fruitless, if one forgets the Praises of God. ||1||
One who lays aside both pride and attachment, sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord of the Universe.
Says Nanak, the mortal who does this is said to be 'jivan mukta' - liberated while yet alive. ||2||2||
Bilaaval, Ninth Mehl:
There is no meditation on the Lord within him.
That man wastes his life uselessly - keep this in mind. ||1||Pause||
He bathes at sacred shrines of pilgrimage, and adheres to fasts, but he has no control over his mind.
Know that such religion is useless to him. I speak the Truth for his sake. ||1||
It's like a stone, kept immersed in water; still, the water does not penetrate it.
So, understand it: that mortal being who lacks devotional worship is just like that. ||2||
In this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, liberation comes from the Naam. The Guru has revealed this secret.
Says Nanak, he alone is a great man, who sings the Praises of God. ||3||3||
Bilaaval, Ashtpadheeyaa, First Mehl, Tenth House:
One Universal Creator God. By The Grace Of The True Guru:
He dwells close at hand, and sees all,
but how rare is the Gurmukh who understands this.
Without the Fear of God, there is no devotional worship.
Imbued with the Word of the Shabad, eternal peace is attained. ||1||
Such is the spiritual wisdom, the treasure of the Naam;
obtaining it, the Gurmukhs enjoy the subtle essence of this nectar. ||1||Pause||
Everyone talks about spiritual wisdom and spiritual knowledge.
Talking, talking, they argue, and suffer.
No one can stop talking and discussing it.
Without being imbued with the subtle essence, there is no liberation. ||2||
Spiritual wisdom and meditation all come from the Guru.
Through the lifestyle of Truth, the True Lord comes to dwell in the mind.
The self-willed manmukh talks about it, but does not practice it.
Forgetting the Name, he finds no place of rest. ||3||
Maya has caught the mind in the trap of the whirlpool.
Each and every heart is trapped by this bait of poison and sin.
See that whoever has come, is subject to death.
Your affairs shall be adjusted, if you contemplate the Lord in your heart. ||4||
He alone is a spiritual teacher, who lovingly focuses his consciousness on the Word of the Shabad.
The self-willed, egotistical manmukh loses his honor.
The Creator Lord Himself inspires us to His devotional worship.
He Himself blesses the Gurmukh with glorious greatness. ||5||
The life-night is dark, while the Divine Light is immaculate.
Those who lack the Naam, the Name of the Lord, are false, filthy and untouchable.
The Vedas preach sermons of devotional worship.
Listening, hearing and believing, one beholds the Divine Light. ||6||
The Shaastras and Simritees implant the Naam within.
The Gurmukh lives in peace and tranquility, doing deeds of sublime purity.
The self-willed manmukh suffers the pains of reincarnation.
His bonds are broken, enshrining the Name of the One Lord. ||7||
Believing in the Naam, one obtains true honor and adoration.
Who should I see? There is none other than the Lord.
I see, and I say, that He alone is pleasing to my mind.
Says Nanak, there is no other at all. ||8||1||
✦ Connected Across Traditions
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.”