O Nanak, chant the chant of 'Sohang hansaa' - 'He is me, and I am Him.' The three worlds are absorbed in Him. ||1||
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
In plain words
When I act only from my small proud self, You seem far away; where You are fully present, that small self is not.
Wise ones, understand this: the deepest speech is spoken silently in the mind.
When self-conceit leaves, doubt and fear leave with it, and the ache of coming and going is gone. Nanak says: chant softly, He is me and I am Him, and the three worlds melt into the One.
The small self and the One cannot fill the same space; make room, and the One appears.
The deeper layer
A shalok of the First Mehl and a high point of the Vaar about oneness. Ego and the One cannot occupy the same space. The closing 'Sohang hansaa', He is me, and I am Him, is a direct statement of oneness (Ik Onkar), the whole cosmos absorbed in the single reality.
A Question to Sit With
When you let go of needing to be right, what more do you notice around you?
