You Become Whatever You Hold in Your Gaze

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This stanza shows the settled state, after the heavy doors of stanza six have opened. The pattern repeats — "haumai maar man vasaaia" — once the ego quiets, the One moves in and dwells. Notice how often Guru Amar Das pairs these: the ego going quiet and the One settling in. They're two sides of one event, like an exhale and an inhale. The "me" has to make room before the One can take up residence. As long as you're full of yourself, there's no space for anything else; empty the self a little, and the One fills the room.

The middle line names the practice that keeps it going: "gur charnee sadaa chit laaia" — always keep your attention resting at the Guru's feet. The "Guru's feet" is an image of humility and devotion — keeping your awareness lowered, turned toward the teaching, rather than puffed up and turned toward yourself. This is the ongoing maintenance of the awakened state: not a one-time event, but a continuous gentle returning of attention to the source of the light.

The key word in the last line is "nirmal" — immaculate, stainless, clear — and Guru Amar Das uses it three times in a row: clear mind, clear body, clear Name. Here's what's beautiful about the logic: "gur kirpaa te man tan nirmal" — by grace the mind and body became clear, and then the soul holds the "nirmal naam." You become like what you focus on. Hold the spotless Name, and you become spotless; the clarity of what you contemplate seeps into you. And crucially, the clearing is "gur kirpaa te" — by grace, not by your own scrubbing. You don't make yourself pure by harsh self-criticism and effort; purity is a gift that comes from turning toward the clear, pure One. The stain doesn't get scrubbed off by force — it dissolves in the light, the way shadows simply vanish when you turn on the lamp.