Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Hold in mind the One — unfathomable, endless.
Remembering it, your pains scatter.
O One, lead me to the true teacher; meeting the teacher, I am at peace.
This shabad (opening the "Second House") has a simpler, more song-like shape — short lines, a chant-like rhythm. The teaching is plain and complete: hold the One in mind, and "pains are dispelled." Guru Ram Das does not overcomplicate it. So much of our suffering is the mind gripping its troubles, turning them over and over; remembrance loosens that grip. And the one thing asked for is the meeting with the teacher, because "meeting the Guru, I am at peace." Peace is located not in circumstances changing but in a meeting — with the teacher, and through the teacher, with the One held in mind.
When you're hurting, does turning the problem over and over help, or does it tighten the grip? What loosens it?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI