Ang-901 — Chapter 34
I serve the One who gave me the Naam; I am a sacrifice to Him.
He who builds, also demolishes; there is no other than Him.
By Guru's Grace, I contemplate Him, and then my body does not suffer in pain. ||31||
No one is mine - whose gown should I grasp and hold? No one ever was, and no one shall ever be mine.
Coming and going, one is ruined, afflicted with the disease of dual-mindedness.
Those beings who lack the Naam, the Name of the Lord, collapse like pillars of salt.
Without the Name, how can they find release? They fall into hell in the end.
Using a limited number of words, we describe the unlimited True Lord.
The ignorant lack understanding. Without the Guru, there is no spiritual wisdom.
The separated soul is like the broken string of a guitar, which does not vibrate its sound.
God unites the separated souls with Himself, awakening their destiny. ||32||
The body is the tree, and the mind is the bird; the birds in the tree are the five senses.
They peck at the essence of reality, and merge with the One Lord. They are never trapped at all.
But the others fly away in a hurry, when they see the food.
Their feathers are clipped, and they are caught in the noose; through their mistakes, they are caught in disaster.
Without the True Lord, how can anyone find release? The jewel of the Lord's Glorious Praises comes by the karma of good actions.
When He Himself releases them, only then are they released. He Himself is the Great Master.
By Guru's Grace, they are released, when He Himself grants His Grace.
Glorious greatness rests in His Hands. He blesses those with whom He is pleased. ||33||
The soul trembles and shakes, when it loses its mooring and support.
Only the support of the True Lord brings honor and glory. Through it, one's works are never in vain.
The Lord is eternal and forever stable; the Guru is stable, and contemplation upon the True Lord is stable.
O Lord and Master of angels, men and Yogic masters, You are the support of the unsupported.
In all places and interspaces, You are the Giver, the Great Giver.
Wherever I look, there I see You, Lord; You have no end or limitation.
You are pervading and permeating the places and interspaces; reflecting upon the Word of the Guru's Shabad, You are found.
You give gifts even when they are not asked for; You are great, inaccessible and infinite. ||34||
O Merciful Lord, You are the embodiment of mercy; creating the Creation, You behold it.
Please shower Your Mercy upon me, O God, and unite me with Yourself. In an instant, You destroy and rebuild.
You are all-wise and all-seeing; You are the Greatest Giver of all givers.
He is the Eradicator of poverty, and the Destroyer of pain; the Gurmukh realizes spiritual wisdom and meditation. ||35||
Losing his wealth, he cries out in anguish; the fool's consciousness is engrossed in wealth.
How rare are those who gather the wealth of Truth, and love the Immaculate Naam, the Name of the Lord.
If by losing your wealth, you may become absorbed in the Love of the One Lord, then just let it go.
Dedicate your mind, and surrender your head; seek only the Support of the Creator Lord.
Worldly affairs and wanderings cease, when the mind is filled with the bliss of the Shabad.
Even one's enemies become friends, meeting with the Guru, the Lord of the Universe.
Wandering from forest to forest searching, you will find that those things are within the home of your own heart.
United by the True Guru, you shall remain united, and the pains of birth and death will be ended. ||36||
Through various rituals, one does not find release. Without virtue, one is sent to the City of Death.
One will not have this world or the next; committing sinful mistakes, one comes to regret and repent in the end.
✦ 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.”
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.”