All the busy experts fell asleep at their own work — so stay awake facing the light.
The Arc
Some people get lost in study. Some get lost in their practice. Some are proud of what they gave up. Some are proud of how hard they try. Each one is dazed by their own thing. Meanwhile, quiet thieves slip into the house. Your peace, your kindness, your time with people you love can drift away while you scroll. Some people stay wide awake, even in hard times. There are many ways to sleep and many ways to wake. The best way to wake is to face the Guru. The best thing your body can do is remember the Naam with love. At the centre, the Rahao: everyone is drunk on the world's shine, and while no one wakes, thieves rob the house.
Key Vocabulary
maatay — intoxicated, drunk (here on one's own practice, not wine).
jaagai — awake, aware.
mad — wine; here the wine of maya.
gurmukh — one turned toward the teaching.
bhaj raam naam — to keep and vibrate the Naam.
Themes and Cross-Connections
The awake-versus-asleep theme runs through Gurbani's picture of maya as a dazzling surface, and the roll-call places Naam Dayv and Jai Dayv, later voices of this very block, among the awake. It pairs naturally with the following ulat-baasi shabad, which also asks the reader to see past appearances.
For Raag Basant
Within the raag, this shabad keeps spring's aliveness honest: blossoming means being awake, more than any busy display. It reads as a caution against mistaking effort or expertise for the awakening the raag celebrates.
Hukumnama
Subject: Wake up before the thieves rob your home Preview: scholars, yogis and hard trials, the wine of Maya, thieves in the house, Hanuman awake, a body's finest work.
Today: Some people get lost in study. Some get lost in their practice. Some are proud of what they gave up. Some are proud of how hard they try. Each one is dazed by their own thing. Meanwhile, quiet thieves slip into the house. Your peace, your kindness, your time with people you love can drift away while you scroll. Some people stay wide awake, even in hard times. There are many ways to sleep and many ways to wake. The best way to wake is to face the Guru. The best thing your body can do is remember the Naam with love.
Everyone is drunk on the world's shine, and while no one wakes, thieves rob the house.
For today: Put your phone in another room for one meal and be fully there with the people at the table.
All the busy experts fell asleep at their own work — so stay awake facing the light.
The Arc
Some people get lost in study. Some get lost in their practice. Some are proud of what they gave up. Some are proud of how hard they try. Each one is dazed by their own thing. Meanwhile, quiet thieves slip into the house. Your peace, your kindness, your time with people you love can drift away while you scroll. Some people stay wide awake, even in hard times. There are many ways to sleep and many ways to wake. The best way to wake is to face the Guru. The best thing your body can do is remember the Naam with love. At the centre, the Rahao: everyone is drunk on the world's shine, and while no one wakes, thieves rob the house.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
The awake-versus-asleep theme runs through Gurbani's picture of maya as a dazzling surface, and the roll-call places Naam Dayv and Jai Dayv, later voices of this very block, among the awake. It pairs naturally with the following ulat-baasi shabad, which also asks the reader to see past appearances.
For Raag Basant
Within the raag, this shabad keeps spring's aliveness honest: blossoming means being awake, more than any busy display. It reads as a caution against mistaking effort or expertise for the awakening the raag celebrates.
Hukumnama
Subject: Wake up before the thieves rob your home Preview: scholars, yogis and hard trials, the wine of Maya, thieves in the house, Hanuman awake, a body's finest work.
Today: Some people get lost in study. Some get lost in their practice. Some are proud of what they gave up. Some are proud of how hard they try. Each one is dazed by their own thing. Meanwhile, quiet thieves slip into the house. Your peace, your kindness, your time with people you love can drift away while you scroll. Some people stay wide awake, even in hard times. There are many ways to sleep and many ways to wake. The best way to wake is to face the Guru. The best thing your body can do is remember the Naam with love.
Everyone is drunk on the world's shine, and while no one wakes, thieves rob the house.
For today: Put your phone in another room for one meal and be fully there with the people at the table.