Turn toward the Giver of the gifts; the inward turning carries a person across.
The Arc
The One made everything and gives you every bit of peace you have felt. So why chase the stuff that leaves you empty, like candy for dinner? Talk to your own mind, kindly. Turn to the One. Other plans fall apart, like a sandcastle below the tide line. Hugging the gift wrap and forgetting the friend who gave it makes no sense. Your life, your body, your things are on loan, like a library book. Calling them all mine starts the churning. Fires, feasts, chants and long trips stay on the outside. Let the me-me-me melt, take shelter in the One, and you cross over. At the centre, the Rahao: O mind, remember the Lord of the World, because every other plan falls apart.
Key Vocabulary
nirankar — the formless oneness
sukh-daata — the giver of peace
bikhi-aa ras — the pleasures that corrupt; what leaves us empty
manmukh — one turned away (self-willed), following only their own mind
ahankar — pride, the disease to heal
bhavjal — the world-ocean, a churning sea of coming and going
miti-aa aap — the ego dissolving in sanctuary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Turning toward the source rather than its gifts, the ego dissolving in surrender, and the critique of outward-only ritual recur across Guru Arjan's Bhairao shabads and connect to the philosophy notes on Haumai.
For Raag Bhairao
Bhairao's clarity suits the shabad's plain question and plainer answer: in the bright light of morning, the difference between the gift and the Giver is easy to see.
Hukumnama
Subject: Keep your mind turned to the One Preview: candy for dinner, a sandcastle below the tide, hugged gift wrap, a library book, a churning sea.
Today: The One made everything and gives you every bit of peace you have felt. So why chase the stuff that leaves you empty, like candy for dinner? Talk to your own mind, kindly. Turn to the One. Other plans fall apart, like a sandcastle below the tide line. Hugging the gift wrap and forgetting the friend who gave it makes no sense. Your life, your body, your things are on loan, like a library book. Calling them all mine starts the churning. Fires, feasts, chants and long trips stay on the outside. Let the me-me-me melt, take shelter in the One, and you cross over.
O mind, remember the Lord of the World; every other plan falls apart.
For today: When your mind races today, tell it kindly, "Turn to the One," and say the Naam once.
Turn toward the Giver of the gifts; the inward turning carries a person across.
The Arc
The One made everything and gives you every bit of peace you have felt. So why chase the stuff that leaves you empty, like candy for dinner? Talk to your own mind, kindly. Turn to the One. Other plans fall apart, like a sandcastle below the tide line. Hugging the gift wrap and forgetting the friend who gave it makes no sense. Your life, your body, your things are on loan, like a library book. Calling them all mine starts the churning. Fires, feasts, chants and long trips stay on the outside. Let the me-me-me melt, take shelter in the One, and you cross over. At the centre, the Rahao: O mind, remember the Lord of the World, because every other plan falls apart.
Key Vocabulary
Themes and Cross-Connections
Turning toward the source rather than its gifts, the ego dissolving in surrender, and the critique of outward-only ritual recur across Guru Arjan's Bhairao shabads and connect to the philosophy notes on Haumai.
For Raag Bhairao
Bhairao's clarity suits the shabad's plain question and plainer answer: in the bright light of morning, the difference between the gift and the Giver is easy to see.
Hukumnama
Subject: Keep your mind turned to the One Preview: candy for dinner, a sandcastle below the tide, hugged gift wrap, a library book, a churning sea.
Today: The One made everything and gives you every bit of peace you have felt. So why chase the stuff that leaves you empty, like candy for dinner? Talk to your own mind, kindly. Turn to the One. Other plans fall apart, like a sandcastle below the tide line. Hugging the gift wrap and forgetting the friend who gave it makes no sense. Your life, your body, your things are on loan, like a library book. Calling them all mine starts the churning. Fires, feasts, chants and long trips stay on the outside. Let the me-me-me melt, take shelter in the One, and you cross over.
O mind, remember the Lord of the World; every other plan falls apart.
For today: When your mind races today, tell it kindly, "Turn to the One," and say the Naam once.