Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
**Y** — we came into this life to keep the One in our hearts. But almost from the start, the shine of the world caught our eyes and pulled our attention away.
There was a time, quiet and hidden before we were even born, when every single breath felt close to the One. Now, out in the busy world, we get tangled up in things we'll have to set down anyway — and we forget the Great Giver who gives us everything.
But those the kind One touches with mercy never really forget — not here, not anywhere.
The letter opens a subtle Pauri about forgetting and remembering. The source describes the soul remembering God "upside-down in the womb" — a traditional image of the pre-birth soul in constant remembrance, then losing that closeness once maya (the world's dazzle) catches it at birth. Per the project's wellbeing rules, we drop the frightening "chamber of the womb" imagery and keep only the tender heart of it: a time "quiet and hidden before we were even born" when every breath was close to the One. The teaching is about forgetting the Giver — getting so tangled in temporary things (chhod chhadaanaa, "what must be left behind") that we lose sight of the Source. And the hopeful close: mercy (kirpaa) keeps the remembering alive, "here or hereafter." Remembering is our original condition; the world just distracted us from it.
What is something you deeply knew as a small child that the busy world made you forget for a while?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI