ਗਉੜੀ ਮਹਲਾ ੧ ॥
ga-orhee mehlaa 1.
Gauree, First Mehl:
ਸਤਿਗੁਰੁ ਮਿਲੈ ਸੁ ਮਰਣੁ ਦਿਖਾਏ ॥
satgur milai so maran dikhaa-ay.
Meeting the True Guru, we are shown the way to die.
ਮਰਣ ਰਹਣ ਰਸੁ ਅੰਤਰਿ ਭਾਏ ॥
maran rahan ras antar bhaa-ay.
Remaining alive in this death brings joy deep within.
ਗਰਬੁ ਨਿਵਾਰਿ ਗਗਨ ਪੁਰੁ ਪਾਏ ॥੧॥
garab nivaar gagan pur paa-ay. ||1||
Overcoming egotistical pride, the Tenth Gate is found. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
When you meet a true teacher, they show you how to die in the best way -- before your body ever stops. Staying alive after that kind of death fills you with a deep, quiet joy. Once the proud "me" is set down, the secret gate opens.
A true teacher shows you how to die before you die -- and that is where joy begins.
The shabad's theme is announced: the Guru teaches how to die the ego-death. Living after that death is joy. Overcoming haumai (pride and ego) is what the verse links with the finding of the Tenth Gate. Commentators read the death of ego and that inner opening as the same event.
A Question to Sit With
What part of you feels heaviest to carry? What would it be like to set it down?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI
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