You Are Squandering This Life in the Love of Maya
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Make every effort to cross over this terrifying world-ocean. Every effort.
You are spending this life in the love of Maya — in chasing after things that shimmer and disappear.
Maya here is the world of surfaces — not "illusion" in the sense of not being real, but "illusion" in the sense of being mistaken for the destination when it is only the scenery. The world-ocean is terrifying not because it is evil but because it is easy to drown in — to get so absorbed in acquiring, impressing, consuming, surviving, that the real purpose of the journey is forgotten.
"Make every effort" — this is not passive acceptance. The same Guru Arjan who said "don't plot and plan" now says: cross over. Both are true. Stop anxious scheming, and also: genuinely make the effort toward what matters.
What is one thing in your life that consumes a lot of your energy but doesn't actually bring you closer to who you want to be? What would it feel like to put that energy somewhere else?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI