Empty the Me and Flow Into Something Larger

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

This line holds the whole Sikh path in one breath: let go of the self, and you find the One.

This is the rahaa-o, the "pause" line. It is the center of the shabad, the line everything else circles around. Aap gavaa-ay taa har paa-ay means "lose the self, and then you find the One." The aap, the self that gets lost, is haumai: the ego, the feeling of being a separate "me" cut off from everything else.

Notice the order. First the self goes, then the One is found. Not the other way around. Picture a room crammed full of your own stuff. There is no space for a guest. Clear the room, and you find the One was waiting to fill it all along.

This is the great surprise of the path, and it is worth thinking about. We spend our lives trying to build up the self: bigger, more impressive, safer. This line says the treasure comes from the opposite move. Aap nivaarni-aa means "those who clear away the self." It feels backwards, even scary. Won't I disappear? But what disappears is only the idea that you are alone and separate, a little fort of "me against everything." What is left is much bigger: being one with the whole.

How do we know this is the right kind of losing? The word sahj, meaning "natural ease." Har si-o sahj samaavani-aa means "they melt into the One with ease." When you work hard to prop up the self, life is all strain and guarding. When the self quietly steps aside, you don't fall into emptiness. You flow into the One, like a stream finally reaching the sea it was always heading for. The letting go doesn't hurt. It is a relief. That is why the singer says, ha-o vaaree jee-o vaaree, "I give myself completely" to people who do this. They have found that the scariest-sounding step is really the doorway to peace.