Dakhnee Onkaar

Onkaar is the One — the sound everything comes out of. Fifty-four verses by Guru Nanak follow it, each hung on a letter of the Gurmukhi alphabet, so you can take them a letter at a time. A learned scholar fills page after page with the world's quarrels. Write the Naam instead. Even the letters you write can carry you home.

Everything starts from one Sound, the One. Mountains, ages and wise books all flow from it. Now picture a brilliant student filling notebook after notebook with arguments. Write the Naam instead, friend. The One is near, inside you and all around. You can't grab it or own it. Your mind is a restless deer, sneaking bites of green shoots; hold it steady. Life passes like sunshine and shade, so meet both the same way. Patience and forgiveness keep you steady. When every other help is gone, you can call out "Beloved, Beloved," and the One who separated you brings you back. The wisest person is the one who wears the Naam like a necklace. At the centre, the Rahao: write the Naam, not the world's quarrels.