The Real Dance Is the Mind Letting Go

Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa

Now the song brings in its big picture: dancing. It says the real dance happens in the mind, as it lets go.

In Guru Amar Das's India, devotional dance was everywhere. Performers danced and drummed in the name of God. The Guru takes this familiar sight and turns it inward. What is the real dance? Manoo-aa naachai bhagat drirh-aa-ay — let the mind itself dance, and let its dancing make devotion firm. The real performance isn't feet on a stage. It is your mind moving in love. A still body with a dancing heart is the true dancer.

So what music does the mind dance to? The verse answers with rhythm: sachaa taal pooray — keep the true beat. Taal is the rhythm cycle in Indian music. And the true beat is named exactly: maa-i-aa moh chukaa-ay — letting go of clinging to Maya. A dancer has to stay on the beat. Step off it, and the dance falls apart. For the mind, staying on the beat means letting go of grabbing, again and again. Every beat loosens the grip on passing things a little. That rhythm keeps the soul's dance beautiful.

And who leads the dance? Gur kai sabad manai man milaa-ay — through the Guru's Shabad, the Word, the small mind merges into the great Mind, the One. The dance has a goal, and it isn't applause. It is union: the small, separate self melting into the One it dances toward. Sabday nirat karaavani-aa — dance to the Shabad. The Word is the music. Devotion is the dance. Letting go of Maya is the rhythm. Union is where it ends. Real devotion isn't stiff and gloomy. It's a dance — but the dancer is your mind, and the beat you keep is letting go of what you cling to.