The Closing Saloks, Savaiye in Praise of Guru Amar Das (the bard Bhikhaa)
Many speak sweetly; the Guru touches the soul.
The Arc
You can meet many people who seem wise: hermits, monks, people of hard discipline, scholars. All of them speak sweetly. You can wander a whole year, and none of it reaches the deep-down part of you. You listen to people who talk well, but the way they live leaves you cold. They have let go of the Naam and hold on to something else. Then the One leads you to the Guru, and something touches you all the way down. As you are kept, so you stay. At the center, the opening line: I searched for the saints and saw so many holy people.
Key Vocabulary
sant - saints
sani-aasee - Sannyasis, wandering monks
parcha-o - a touch that reaches the heart
rahat - way of living
Hukumnama
Subject: The Guru's touch reaches your soul Preview: Hermits and scholars with sweet words, a year of wandering, a soul untouched until the Guru.
Today: You can meet many people who seem wise: hermits, monks, people of hard discipline, scholars. All of them speak sweetly. You can wander a whole year, and none of it reaches the deep-down part of you. You listen to people who talk well, but the way they live leaves you cold. They have let go of the Naam and hold on to something else. Then the One leads you to the Guru, and something touches you all the way down. As you are kept, so you stay.
The Guru, met as a gift, reaches the soul where sweet words could not.
For today: Find one person today whose life matches their words, and learn from them.
Many speak sweetly; the Guru touches the soul.
The Arc
You can meet many people who seem wise: hermits, monks, people of hard discipline, scholars. All of them speak sweetly. You can wander a whole year, and none of it reaches the deep-down part of you. You listen to people who talk well, but the way they live leaves you cold. They have let go of the Naam and hold on to something else. Then the One leads you to the Guru, and something touches you all the way down. As you are kept, so you stay. At the center, the opening line: I searched for the saints and saw so many holy people.
Key Vocabulary
Hukumnama
Subject: The Guru's touch reaches your soul Preview: Hermits and scholars with sweet words, a year of wandering, a soul untouched until the Guru.
Today: You can meet many people who seem wise: hermits, monks, people of hard discipline, scholars. All of them speak sweetly. You can wander a whole year, and none of it reaches the deep-down part of you. You listen to people who talk well, but the way they live leaves you cold. They have let go of the Naam and hold on to something else. Then the One leads you to the Guru, and something touches you all the way down. As you are kept, so you stay.
The Guru, met as a gift, reaches the soul where sweet words could not.
For today: Find one person today whose life matches their words, and learn from them.